RAWALPINDI: Three terrorists were killed in fire exchange with the security forces during an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district on Saturday, according to the military’s media wing.
In a statement the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that security personnel conducted the operation upon the reported presence of terrorists in the area.
It added that the security forces “effectively engaged” the terrorists at their location, due to which three were “sent to hell”.
The ISPR said weapons and ammunition were also recovered from them, adding that they were actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces, as well as innocent civilians.
The ISPR said a sanitisation operation was being conducted 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 concluded.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appreciated the security forces and paid tribute to them following the successful operation.
“We are fully determined to completely root out terrorism from the country,” he said.
Similarly, President Asif Ali Zardari also lauded the security forces for carrying out the operation.
In a statement issued after the operation, the president said operations against terrorists would continue till the complete eradication of the menace from the country.
He said the whole nation stood with the security forces in the war against terrorism.
Moreover, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi praised the timely action of the security forces, stating that they demonstrated professional expertise by eliminating three terrorists.
Naqvi commended the security forces for their successful operation and said the nation took pride in their professional capabilities.
He said security forces deserved appreciation for thwarting the nefarious intentions of terrorists, adding that their efforts to maintain peace and stability were commendable and the entire nation stood with them in the fight against terrorism.
Naqvi reaffirmed that operations would continue until the complete elimination of terrorists.
Earlier this week, 16 terrorists were killed while five soldiers were martyred as security forces responded to a terrorist attack on the Bannu Cantonment in KP’s namesake district.
Terrorists had attacked the perimeter of Bannu Cantonment with two explosives-laden vehicles in a bid to enter the high-security zone on Tuesday evening. Thirteen civilians lost their lives, while another 32 were injured as a result of a mosque and a residential building collapsed due to the suicide blasts, besides damaging the perimeter wall to partially collapse.
February saw a marginal increase in terrorist attacks but a sharp surge in civilian casualties, according to a report published by the Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).
The report tallying terrorist attacks across Pakistan in February was published after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy in North Waziristan last week, martyring two soldiers and injuring 10 others.
