ISLAMABAD: Two militants were killed and four others were arrested in an operation in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police said on Thursday.
The operation was jointly conducted in the Lakki Marwat district by police, counter-terrorism department and members of ‘Aman Committee,’ pro-government militias, according to a police spokesman.
Sajjad Khan, the deputy inspector general (DIG) of Bannu region, also dispatched additional police and CTD personnel along with armored vehicles for operation against militants present in the area.
“Two terrorists were killed during the operation,” the Bannu police spokesman said in a statement. “Four terrorists were arrested and two motorcycles used by them were recovered.”
The police statement did not specify which militant group the deceased and the arrestees belonged to, but the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have stepped up their activities in the region in recent years.
“Search and clearance operation is still ongoing in the area,” DIG Khan said. “Terrorists will be brought to their logical end.”
Pakistan has struggled in recent years to contain a surge in militancy in KP and Balochistan provinces, which border Afghanistan.
Islamabad has long accused Kabul of sheltering militant groups like the TTP and Baloch separatists and facilitating attacks against Pakistan. Afghanistan denies the allegations and says Pakistan’s security challenges are Islamabad’s internal matter.
Pakistan has separately launched an operation against alleged militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan since late last month, when Taliban forces attacked Pakistani military installations on Feb. 26 in response to earlier Pakistani strikes against the TTP and Daesh.
“Summary of Fitna Al Khawarij / Afghan Taliban losses: 641 killed, 855+ injured, 243 Check posts destroyed, 42 Posts captured & destroyed, 219 tanks, armored vehicles [and] artillery guns destroyed,” Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday in his daily update on the operation.
Afghanistan has also claimed to have killed dozens of Pakistani soldiers, while Kabul has said Pakistani strikes have killed scores of civilians. None of the casualty figures or battlefield claims from either side could be independently verified.
