PESHAWAR/LAHORE: Five terrorists, including a commander, were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) carried out by security forces in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district on Saturday, the military said.

Separately, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday claimed to have arrested 22 suspects linked to various banned organisations across Punjab.

The Mir Ali operation was planned on the reported presence of militants in the area, the military’s media wing said, adding that five terrorists, including commander Rahzaib alias Khuray, were killed in the operation.

“During the conduct of the operation, after an intense fire exchange, the five terrorists were eliminated who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as extortion and target killings of innocent civilians,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that the forces also recovered weapons and ammunition during the operation.

CTD arrests 22 suspects linked to various banned organisations across Punjab

“The locals of the area appreciated the operation. However, a sanitisation operation was being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area, as the security forces were determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” the ISPR added.

Arrests in Punjab

The CTD said arrests in Punjab were made as part of a broader effort to counter terrorism, with 244 intelligence-based operations conducted across the province to prevent any potential incidents.

A spokesperson for the department said that out of the 245 suspects interrogated, 22 were arrested. The suspects are members of various banned organisations, including Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Sipah-i-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP) and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ).

The suspects were identified as Usama, Hikmatullah, Muhammad Tauqeer, Muhammad Abdullah, Hashim Khan and Matiullah of the TTP from Lahore; Muhammad Arshad, chief commander of BLA from Bahawalpur; Muhammad Ramzan and Muhammad Husnain of the TTP from Rawalpindi; Khan Zada of the TTP from Gujranwala; Abdul Rasheed of the SSP from Nankana Sahib; Aamir Shahzad of the TTP from Sheikhupura; Faizan Haider and Shezan Haider of SMP from Rawalpindi; Hamid Bashir of the TTP from Faisalabad; Zafran Ahmed of Daesh from Gujranwala; Muhammad Pervaiz of the TTP from Rawalpindi; Muhammad Sufyan of the SSP from Bahawalpur; Muhammad Binyamin of the LJ from Bahawalnagar; Hafiz Muhammad Umar Shahzad of the SSP from Sargodha; Abdul Rehman of the TTP from Jhelum; and Imam Shah of the TTP from Gujranwala.

In response to these arrests, 17 FIRs have been registered under terrorism charges against the arrested individuals, with four cases in Rawalpindi, three each in Lahore, Bahawalpur and Gujranwala, two in Sheikhupura, and one each in Faisalabad and Sargodha.

The CTD also reported the recovery of a significant amount of explosives and other material.

In addition to these IBOs, the CTD said it had also conducted 1,289 combing operations during the current week in collaboration with local police and law enforcement agencies.

A total of 55,317 individuals were checked, 4,164 suspects were arrested, and 157 FIRs were registered, with 48 different types of arms and ammunition recovered.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2023