QUETTA: Frontier Corps, police and other law enforcement agencies conducted a joint cleansing operation in Pashtunabad and its surrounding areas on Sunday and searched over 2,500 houses.

This was disclosed by FC’s Sector Commander Brigadier Tasawar Sattar at a media briefing along with Deputy Inspector General of police (Quetta range) Abdul Razzak Cheema.

“We have almost completed the house-to-house search operation in Pashtunabad,” Mr Cheema told Dawn, adding that three weapons had been recovered during the operation. However, no suspect was taken into custody.

Brigadier Tasawar and DIG Cheema said the search operation had been conducted on intelligence-based information after dividing the area into four parts, adding that 1,068 security personnel, including 277 police officials and 791 FC men, were taking part in the house-to-house search.

Lady officers were included in the force for searching around 3,000 houses in Pashtunabad, having a population of over 22,000 people, they said, adding that politicians, tribal elders, public representatives and religious leaders of the area had been taken on board before launching the operation aimed at protecting people and tracing the hideouts of terrorists.

“The search operation was conducted in the morning after cordoning off the area and blocking infrequent entrances,” DIG Cheema said, adding that a similar operation had been launched in the Killi Deeba area after the targeted killing of acting SP (investigation) Mohammad Ilyas, along with four members of his family, and the suicide attack on DIG (telecommunication and transport) Hamid Shakeel Sabir.

He said that around 500 houses had been searched and six check posts established in the area after the two incidents.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2017