PESHAWAR: Three militants were killed and one sustained injuries in an exchange of fire with the security forces in Razmak area of the North Waziristan district on Friday, the military’s media said.

A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the security forces launched an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) after the presence of militants was reported in the area.

The statement said an intense exchange of fire took place between the security forces and militants during the operation, in which three militants were killed and one was injured.

The statement said that the security forces recovered weapons and ammunition from the killed militants, who remained actively involved in militant activities against security forces as well as targeted killing of innocent civilians.

Following the exchange of fire, sanitisation of the area was being carried out to eliminate any other militants found in the area as security forces were determined to wipe out the menace of militancy from the country.

Police van attacked in Peshawar

Two policemen and a civilian sustained injuries when a bomb went off near a police mobile van on the Warsak Road in the provincial capital on Friday, the police said.

A statement issued by the capital city police said that the injured persons, including the in-charge of the mobile van, its driver and a passerby, were shifted to a hospital.

The condition of all the injured persons was stated to be out of danger, the statement said, adding that the area had been immediately cordoned off to arrest the perpetrators of the blast.

According to the statement, SSP operations Kashif Zulfiqar and other senior police officials also visited the area.

“CCTV footages from the nearby areas were being obtained and evidence from the blast site collected,” the statement quoted Mr Zulfiqar as saying. He said that a joint search operation by the police and other law enforcement agencies would soon be launched in Warsak division to trace the culprits.

Separately, four persons, two children among them, were injured when a remote-controlled bomb exploded near the car of a tribal elder in Daza Ghundai area of Wana tehsil of the Lower South Waziristan district on Friday.

Local sources told Dawn that Malik Ashiq Noor Wazir Ghanikhel was the target.

However, the elder and his colleagues narrowly escaped the blast. The car was damaged in the explosion.

All the injured persons were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Wana.

The police said another vehicle was also damaged in the explosion. The injured people were identified as Hazrat Hussain, Ehsanullah, Mohammad Roshan and Mohammad Saqib.

The sources said that unknown accused had planted the device on a motorcycle, which exploded when the elder’s vehicle passed through the area.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2024