ISLAMABAD: Four militants involved in attacks on security forces and the killing of civilians were killed during an intelligence-based operation in the northwestern Tank district this week, Pakistan Army’s media wing said, as it steps up efforts to root out militancy in the country.
The operation was conducted in Tank district on Saturday, July 27, on the reported presence of “terrorists,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.,
It said the four militants were “sent to hell” after an intense exchange of fire between the two sides.
“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from killed Kharji terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against Security Forces as well as abduction & target killing of innocent civilians,” ISPR said.
It added that a sanitization operation was being carried out to eliminate any other “terrorists” found in the area.
“Security Forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” the statement said.
Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which borders Afghanistan, has been the scene of several attacks on police, security forces and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent weeks.
Pakistan witnessed a spike in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the Pakistani Taliban called off their fragile truce with the government in November 2022. The group has intensified its attacks in recent months.
Islamabad has blamed the surge in violence on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegation and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad.
