QUETTA: Four alleged terrorists of a banned outfit were killed in an intelligence-based operation in the Kharan area of Rakh­shan division, Counter­terrorism Depar­t­ment (CTD) officials said here on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for CTD said personnel from the department and an intelligence agency cordoned off Kharan after receiving information about the presence of militants of the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in the area.

When the security forces en­tered the premises of the compound where the armed militants were hiding, the latter started indiscriminate firing. Security forces immediately took positions and returned fire.

Additional forces were cal­led and firing continued for at least four hours. After the firing stopped, four terrorists were found dead in the compound.

“Four terrorists of banned BLA were killed in the heavy exchange of fire,” the CTD spokesman said, adding that a huge quantity of arms and ammunition had been recovered from their hideout.

He said one terrorist managed to escape taking the benefit of darkness.

The four militants killed in the operation were identified as Ashfaq Ahmed, Salal Ahmed, Wasim Sajjad and Freed.

The CTD spokesperson said Ashfaq and his two companions Salal and Fareed were involved in the attack on an FC camp in Noshki on Feb 2.

The arms and ammunition recovered from the compound included 10 hand grenades, 20 mortar shells, three sub-machine guns, 15kg of explosives, 10 detonators, one 9MM pistol, one mortar gun and one remote-control device.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2022