LAKKI MARWAT: Eig­ht terrorists were killed in a joint operation conducted by the security forces and law enforcement agencies in Bannu district on Saturday, the military’s media wing said.

“The operation underscores the strengthened collaborative efforts between law enforcement agencies and security forces, who have significantly intensified intelligence-driven operations in the region,” the Inter-Service Public Relations said in a statement.

Giving details of the operation, a police official in Bannu said that an attack on an armoured personnel carrier by terrorists in the Domel area triggered a fierce gun battle that lasted for eight hours. He said that the security forces and Counter-Terrorism Depa­rt­ment commandos also reached the area and took part in the gunfight.

“During the operation, the law enforcement personnel killed six khwarij while their several accomplices were injured,” he claimed.

According to the ISPR, eight terrorists were killed during the operation. It said weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the Indian-sponsored khwarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces, law enforcement agencies and targeted killing of innocent civilians.

The ISPR statement added that sanitisation operation was being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area, as the relentless counterterrorism campaign under “Azm-i-Istehkam” vision (as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan would continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.

Also, police foiled a bid to blow up a bridge with explosives in Bannu district on Saturday.

A police official said that terrorists had planted an improvised explosive device weighing 10kg beneath the bridge near the Abshar Chowk to damage the infrastructure. “After receiving information about the subversive attempt, the local police authorities dispatched experts of the bomb disposal squad to defuse the IED,” he maintained.

The police official said that in the Havaid area, a joint action by police and members of peace committees forced the militants to flee the area. The official said that another terrorist was eliminated in a joint operation by police, CTD personnel and volunteers of the peace body in the Nasarkhel area of Lakki Marwat district.

Inspector General of Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Zulfiqar Hameed and Regional Police Officer Sajjad Khan felicitated the law enforcers on the successful operation against terrorists in the region.

They reaffirmed that the entire region would be cleansed of the menace and the police would eliminate all terrorists with full force.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2025