PESHAWAR: Several militants, among them a key figure of the Taliban, were killed in an operation carried out by security forces in Akakhel area of Frontier Region Peshawar on Sunday, police and members of peace committees said.

A peace committee member told Dawn that security forces fired shells on the hideouts of militants in areas closed to Mattani in the suburbs of Peshawar. He said that among those killed was Darra Adamkhel’s leader of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jangrez.

Sources said the deceased included Qari Ayub, Usman and Umair. “We have not seen their bodies yet, but people of the area have informed us that they were among the dead,” they added.

Quoting local people, a police source claimed that Qari Ayub was killed in a blast while trying to fit a bomb to a motorcycle in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency.

An official said that Jangrez was not following the TTP leadership’s decision of ceasefire and continued attacks on security forces and local people.

Jangrez belonged to Adezai village near Peshawar and wanted to police for his alleged involvement in dozens of terrorism-related cases since 2008.

Adezai Qaumi Lashkar chief Fazal Malik told Dawn that militants in Darra Adamkhel were not following the TTP leaders’ decision of ceasefire and carrying out attacks on members of peace committees.

He said he himself escaped a bomb blast recently in Adezai bazaar.

On Saturday, he added, a bomb blast took place at the main gate of the residence of local tribesman Janan Afridi. Militants had now become personal enemy of the volunteers of peace committee, he said.

Fazal Malik said he had received messages that Jangrez had been killed in the shelling, but he could not confirm it unless his own men saw the body.

He said some members of Jangrez’s family used to live in Adezai village, but they had moved to the tribal region when he and his brothers joined the TTP.

Fazal Malik praised the role of security forces in improving law and order situation in FR Peshawar and stressed the need for local people to extend cooperation to the law-enforcement agencies.

SSP Peshawar Najeebur Rehman said police had reports about killing of some militants. However, he added, police had no role in the operation because it was carried out in a semi-tribal region.