ISLAMABAD: After weeks of relative quiet on the Western front, Pakistan carried out a ground operation and air strikes on terrorist sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ‘the border region with Afghanistan’, killing more than 28 terrorists, the information ministry said on Monday.
In a statement, the ministry stressed that the ‘calibrated’ strikes were carried out ‘against the hideouts and safe havens of terrorist organisations responsible’ for the re cent multiple terrorist incidents in KP.
‘Based on credible intelligence, selective targeting of terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Fitna al-Khawarij and its affiliates has also been carried out in the border region with Afghanistan with precision and accuracy,’ the statement said.
The state uses the term Fitna al-Khawarij for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
‘Three targets weredestroyed with precision, including a suicide bombers’ training markaz [centre], killing 28 terrorists alongside multiple suicide bombers,’ it added.
‘Large quantities of weapons and ammunition stored at these marakiz [centres] and hideouts were also destroyed.
Ground operation Prior to the air strikes, security forces conducted a ‘well-planned intelligence-based ground operation’ on Sunday against a group of terrorists in KP’s Kohat and Hangu districts including the latter’s Thal area, the ministry said.
‘As a result of precise and skilful engagement, nine khawarij belonging to Indian proxy Fitna alKhawarij were sent to hell, while several were injured,’ the statement added.
The ministry highlighted that Pakistan had ‘always strived for the maintenance of peace and stability in the region’.
‘However, the safety and security of our citizens remains our foremost priority. It is a matter ofgrave concern that Afghanistan continues to remain a hub of terrorism,’ it said, specifying that the ‘threat to Pakistan emanates from Afghanistan’.
‘Maximum precautions’ ‘In this context, our action precisely targeted the terrorist hubs.
Maximum precautions were taken, and it was ensured that no collateral damage occurs,’ the ministry asserted.
‘The relentless counterterrorism campaign Ghazab lil Haq under vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’ by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and -supported terrorism from the country, the statement added.
The air strikes came a few days after a major attack in the old Police Lines in KP’s Kohat claimed 23 lives and injured about 100 others. Eight terrorists were killed during an overnight clearance operation launched to clear the area.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar was in Kohat on Monday, where he visited the house of a police official martyred in the attack.
Speaking to the media there, he said he had also visited the injured personnel at the Combined Military Hospital.
He added that he was hopeful that terrorism would be eradicated from the country after meeting the heirs of the martyrs and ghazis.
‘We will not rest until [we] eradicate terrorism from its roots,’ he asserted.
Kabul’s response Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid ‘condemned the strikes’ and said ‘Afghans will give it an appropriate response’, AFPreported.
There hasbeen a resur-gence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.
A day earlier, two officers and four others were martyred while eight terrorists were eliminated during a fire exchange between a security forces convoy and armed combatants, the military’smedia wing said.
Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration in Kabul to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned TTP, that are used for attacks in Pakistan. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.