ASADABAD: Afghan security forces have launched an operation against militants in an eastern province seen as a rear base for the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which carried out a school massacre last week in Peshawar, officials said on Monday.

Pakistan Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul in the aftermath of the attack on the Army Public School which killed 148 people, mainly children.

The army chief sought the Afghan leader’s support in defeating the Taliban militants.

TTP leader Mullah Fazlullah is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, which borders Pakistan’s restive tribal areas.

Kunar has been the scene of fierce fighting between local forces and the Afghan Taliban for the past 10 days.

“Afghan security forces have launched a joint anti-militant operation in several parts of Dangam district of Kunar province,” said Dawlat Waziri, deputy defence ministry spokesman.

“So far in the operation, 21 armed insurgents have been killed and 33 others wounded,” Mr Waziri said, adding that seven security personnel were wounded.

Kunar Governor Shujaul Mulk Jalala said more than 1,500 Afghan Taliban fighters attacked remote villages in Dangam.

He said the Pakistani Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were also battling Afghan security forces in Dangam.

Pakistan has repeatedly asked Afghanistan to capture and hand over Fazlullah.

Each country has long accused the other of allowing militants to shelter in the border region and launch bloody attacks.

The Afghan Taliban have stepped up their attacks as Nato wraps up its combat operations, which end on Dec 31.

A follow-up mission of about 12,500 US-led Nato troops will stay on to train and support Afghan security forces.

As part of intensifying its efforts against militancy in the wake of the Taliban attack on the Peshawar school, Pakistan has lifted a moratorium on death penalty in terrorism cases and hanged six convicts over the past few days.

The government plans to execute around 500 militants in coming weeks, officials in Islamabad said on Monday.

“Interior ministry has finalised the cases of 500 convicts who have exhausted all the appeals, their mercy petitions have been turned down by the president and their executions will take place in coming weeks,” a senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A second official confirmed the information.

Of the six hanged so far, five were involved in a failed attempt to assassinate then military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2003, while one was involved in a 2009 attack on army headquarters.

Police, troops and paramilitary rangers have been deployed across the country and airports and prisons put on red alert during the executions and as troops intensify operations against Taliban militants.

Pakistan has described school carnage as its own “mini 9/11,” calling it a game-changer in the fight against extremism.

A military offensive against longstanding Taliban and other militant strongholds in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal agencies has been going on since June.

But a series of fresh strikes since the Peshawar attack, in which dozens of alleged militants were killed, suggest the campaign is being stepped up.

Published in Dawn December 23th , 2014