DERA ISMAIL KHAN / LAKKI MARWAT: Two alleged militants, including a high-value target, were killed in an operation carried out by security forces in Tank district, the military’s media wing said on Friday.

A statement issued by Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the intelligence-based operation was carried out on the night between January 4 and 5 on the reported presence of militants in the area.

Following an intense exchange of fire with security forces, two alleged militants, including the high-value target identified as Gul Yousaf alias Toor, were killed.

“Yousaf remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces, including high profile terrorist attacks in Tank and D.I. Khan districts as well as extortion and target killing of innocent civilians,” the statement said.

The militant, with head money of Rs2.5 million, was wanted by the law enforcement agencies, ISPR added. The operation came days after five terrorists, including a commander, Rahzaib alias Khuray, were killed in an operation in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district on Saturday.

Two attacks foiled in Bajaur, Bannu

A day later, three alleged terrorists attempting to infiltrate through the border with Afghanistan were killed in the Batwar area of Bajaur district.

Attacks foiled

Meanwhile, security forces claimed to have foiled two attacks in Bannu and Bajaur districts on Friday.

A pre-dawn militant attack on a police station in the Mandan area of Bannu district was repulsed on Friday, a police official has confirmed.

More than a dozen militants armed with light and heavy weapons attacked the Mandan police station and attempted to enter the building, the official said, adding the cops deployed at the station noticed the militants’ movement with the help of night vision cameras.

They successfully foiled the attack following an intense crossfire and forced the militants to flee. According to the police official, all cops who participated in the gunfight remained unhurt.

Bannu Regional Police Officer Qasim Ali Khan sent additional force for a search operation in the area while the District Police Officer Iftekhar Shah also visited the police station.

The police station has also come under attacks by militants in the past. On Feb 6, 2017, at least two policemen sustained injuries when a militant crashed an explosive-laden vehicle at the main gate.

In another attack in 2009, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden truck into the police station’s building, according to the police.

In the Bara Kamangra area of Bajaur’s Nawagai tehsil, the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) timely defused several explosive devices, according to a statement issued by the district police officer.

The BDU received information about explosives placed in the area for a possible terrorist attack and immediately arrived at the site.The statement added that the BDU team took timely action and defused the explosives to foil the attack.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2024