NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Six terrorists, including a “high-value target”, were killed by security forces during an operation in the Gharyoum town of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military said on Thursday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that two “fierce encounters” took place between troops and militants in North and South Waziristan on Wednesday-Thursday night.

In the first clash in Gharyoum, the troops “effectively engaged the terrorists’ location”, killing six of them, including a high-value target, the ringleader Hazrat Zaman alias Khawarey Mullah.

The military said Zaman was “actively involved in multiple terrorist activities in the area and was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies”.

Four soldiers martyred in two Waziristan encounters

However, three soldiers embraced martyrdom during that operation, including 36-year-old Lance Naik TabbasumuI Haq, 30-year-old Sepoy Naeem Akhtar, and 23-year-old Sepoy Abdul Hameed.

The second clash took place in the Asman Manza area of South Wazir­istan district, in which 25-year-old Sepoy Farman Ali sacrificed his life.

“Sanitisation is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area,” the ISPR said.

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve.”

Last week, six terrorists were killed and eight were injured in an intelligence-based military operation in North Waziristan.

Militants have stepped up attacks against security for­ces in recent months, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

In July, as many as 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan. That was the military’s highest single-day death toll from terrorist attacks reported this year. Before this, 10 personnel were martyred in a ‘fire raid’ in Balochistan’s Kech district in February 2022.

Last month, data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the number of militant attacks in August was the highest tally for monthly strikes in almost nine years.

There were 99 attacks across the country, the highest in a single month since November 2014, the report said.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2023