DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Two facilitators of terrorists were arrested during a joint operation conducted by Counter-Terrorism Department and the Dera police in Daraban and Kot Esa Khan areas on Saturday.

A police official said the operation targeted militant hideouts based on actionable intelligence. `A heavy exchange of gunfire continued between the terrorists and law enforcement personnel,` he said, adding the law enforces managed to arrest two key facilitators of terrorists.

The official said the rest of terrorists managed to flee using the cover of dense bushes and forested terrain. He said the captured men were shifted to an undisclosed location for further interrogation. The police also reported that several terrorists were likely injured during the exchange of fire.

The operation was launched following an attack on a police party in Daraban tehsil a day earlier. In response, security forces cordoned off the areas and initiated a comprehensive search operation to locate and apprehend the fleeing suspects.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested an outlaw wanted in cases of murder, attempted murder, and other heinous crimes in parts of the Mansehra district.

`We have arrested a proclaimed offender, who brutally murdered a policeman, cut his body parts into pieces and scattered them in different locations in Battle area,` SHO Baffa police station Shujaat Qureshi told reporters.

He said the arrest was part of a broader crackdown launched on the orders of Hazara DIG Nasir Mehmood Satti and district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur, which so far has led to arrest of many outlaws.

`We raided a house in Gullibagh area and arrested the notorious criminal, Sajawal Delawar,` Mr Qureshi added. Correspondent