PESHAWAR: A key militant commander Saddam, who was responsible for facilitating the Peshawar school massacre, was killed by security forces in Khyber Agency's Jamrud area on Thursday night.

Political Agent of Khyber Agency Shahab Ali Shah, while speaking at a press conference in Peshawar, said that Saddam was killed in the Gundi area of Jamrud, adding that one of his accomplices was also arrested in an injured condition.

He said that as a key operational commander of the Tariq Gedar group of Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP), Saddam had facilitated the Taliban gunmen who had launched the attack on Army Public School in Peshawar.

He was also said to be the mastermind behind the 2013 attack on a polio team in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which killed 11 security personnel

Saddam was also involved in killing eight scouts personnel along with the deaths of various of tribal elders, he said.

Separately, Shah said that Operation Khyber One had extended to other areas of Khyber Agency and that militants are being hunted down.

More on this: Nine killed as military operation launched in Khyber

Intensifying their efforts to counter militants in Khyber, security forces have upped action in the region in October.

In response to a query, Shah said that the area in Tirah from where the Mangal Bagh FM radio is operational has not been cleared by security forces as yet.

Opinion

Budgeting without people

Budgeting without people

Even though the economy is a critical issue, discussions about it involve a select few who are not really interested in communicating with the people.

Editorial

Iranian tragedy
Updated 21 May, 2024

Iranian tragedy

Due to Iran’s regional and geopolitical influence, the world will be watching the power transition carefully.
Circular debt woes
21 May, 2024

Circular debt woes

THE alleged corruption and ineptitude of the country’s power bureaucracy is proving very costly. New official data...
Reproductive health
21 May, 2024

Reproductive health

IT is naïve to imagine that reproductive healthcare counts in Pakistan, where women from low-income groups and ...
Wheat price crash
Updated 20 May, 2024

Wheat price crash

What the government has done to Punjab’s smallholder wheat growers by staying out of the market amid crashing prices is deplorable.
Afghan corruption
20 May, 2024

Afghan corruption

AMONGST the reasons that the Afghan Taliban marched into Kabul in August 2021 without any resistance to speak of ...
Volleyball triumph
20 May, 2024

Volleyball triumph

IN the last week, while Pakistan’s cricket team savoured a come-from-behind T20 series victory against Ireland,...