LAKKI MARWAT/NORTH WAZIRISITAN: Two militant commanders affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan were killed in separate Lakki Marwat operations, the police claimed on Tuesday.

A police official said a militant commander was killed in an intelligence-based operation in Tor Lawangkhel area on Tuesday night.

He said the operation was jointly launched by the local police and the Counter-Terrorism Department commandos on information about the presence of militants there. He said a large contingent of law enforcement personnel reached the area and engaged the terrorists.

He said the militants used automatic weapons, but the law enforcers effectively responded, triggering a fierce gun battle, which continued for some time.

The official said when the exchange of fire stopped police launched a search operation, and recovered the body of a militant commander, identified as Inam, a resident of Shagai area.

He said another accomplice of the killed commander fled the scene, taking advantage of darkness.

The official said the commander was wanted by the police in terrorism-related cases, including extortion, bomb explosions and attacks on police and security forces.

Meanwhile, another militant commander was killed in an operation in Shaikh Khula area of Lakki.

A police official declared the offensive a secret operation that took place near a rain-fed watercourse in the rural locality. The official did not disclose more details about the operation.

However, he said that the killed commander, identified as Waheed, was affiliated with the Teepu Gul group of the banned TTP.

He said that the militant commander belonged to Wanda Kutana area and was wanted by Lakki and Bannu police and the CTD in cases of targeted killing, extortion, bomb explosions and attacks on policemen and their installations.

“The militant was included in the list of most wanted 73 terrorists recently released by the district police,” he added. The official said with the killing of the militant commander only 72 terrorists were left in the ‘red book’.

He said the list carried names of terrorists, their fathers’ name and addresses and details of their facilitators. He said the police had been directed to launch operations against militants and their facilitators.

Separately, four security personnel were injured while several militants were killed during an operation in Mirali Bazaar area of North Waziristan district on Tuesday morning.

Sources told Dawn that the operation was launched against suspected militants.

They said the injured personnel were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

The clash also caused panic in the Mirali Bazaar, forcing the traders to close down their shops.

During the firing, a nearby cattle market also caught fire, in which a large number of cattle heads perished.

ISPR, the army’s media wing, didn’t confirm the incident.

Also, Dera’s Saddar Circle SP Khalid Usman Khan Khattak, his guard and driver narrowly escaped an IED blast, which went off near his vehicle on Kulachi-Hathala Road in Kot Doulat area, an official said on Tuesday.

He said that the IED was planted along the road, which exploded near the vehicle of SP Khalid Usman.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024