LANDI KOTAL: Intermittent air strikes and a ground offensive carried out on Saturday in the Rajgal valley of the Tirah region as part of the ongoing military operation left nine suspected terrorists dead and six of their hideouts destroyed.

According to APP, four suspects were injured in the strikes in high mountains near the border with Afghanistan.

The action was codenamed ‘Khyber III military operation’ by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media affairs wing of Pakistan Army.

Paramilitary soldier dies in Jamrud gun attack

The ISPR in its initial press notes about the Rajgal offensive did not give it a name and codenamed it Khyber III only after Chief of the Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif visited the front positions on Friday.

The ISPR said that the destroyed hideouts included an ammunition depot, but its claim could not be verified independently as since 2012 the media have had no access to the region.

Earlier in the morning, a khasadar was shot dead in the Ghundi area of Jamrud.

Personnel of the Swat Scouts along with the Khasadar and Levies forces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa conducted a search operation in the area immediately after the incident and picked up four suspects.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack on Shakeel Khan, the khasadar. With fresh casualties, the number of terrorists killed reached 36 with 15 others wounded in the ongoing operation, adds APP.

According to the ISPR, the military offensive took place in the mountainous terrain of Babar Kachkol, Naray Nao and Tor Sapar areas.

Most of the terrorist-infested regions in Khyber Agency were cleared in two previous operations — codenamed Khyber I & II. The ISPR release said that Khyber III was launched on Tuesday which targeted the terrorists holed up in the area beyond the Tirah valley.

The military launched Khyber III to reinforce deployment of troops along the border with Afghanistan to effectively check movement of terrorists.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2016