QUETTA: Security forces seized 23 landmines during a targeted operation against activists of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in Loralai district of Balochistan on Thursday.

Officials of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the operation was part of the ongoing countrywide Raddul Fasaad operation.

Sources said that personnel of the Frontier Corps and intelligence agencies carried out the operation in the Shah Karez area following reports about the presence there of members of the two groups.

“Twenty-three landmines were recovered from the area in the search operation,” the ISPR officials said, adding that the explosive devices were meant to target vehicles carrying law enforcement personnel and students of the Loralai University.

They said the forces, by launching a timely operation, had managed to save scores of security personnel and students from major terrorist attacks.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2017