At least 22 terrorists were neutralized while six soldiers were killed in three separate operations over two days in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army’s media wing said on Saturday.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the intelligence-based operations (IBO) took place from December 6 to 7 in Tank, North Waziristan and Thal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In Tank District, on information about the presence of terrorists, troops carried out effective action against the hideout of terrorists in Gul Imam area, resulting in the death of nine terrorists while six were injured.
At least 10 terrorists were successfully killed in North Waziristan, while in the third encounter, according to ISPR, security forces foiled an attempt by terrorists to attack a check post in Thal district, during which three terrorists were killed. .
However, six soldiers were also killed during the intense gunbattle, ISPR said, adding that a sanitisation operation has been launched in the area.
Provincial Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur paid tribute to the six security personnel and expressed his heartfelt condolences to their families.
Terrorist incidents by operators and separatist groups have increased in Pakistan in recent months as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other operator organizations have intensified actions against security forces. This has prompted security forces and local police to intensify operations against terrorists.
According to a report released by think tank Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the third quarter (July-September) of 2024 witnessed a sharp increase in terrorist violence and deaths in counter-terrorism operations, with a 90 per cent increase in violence. increased. ,
A total of 722 people, including civilians, security personnel and criminals, were killed while 615 others were injured in 328 incidents recorded during the period under review.
Nearly 97 per cent of these deaths occurred in KP and Balochistan – the highest percentage in a decade, and more than 92 per cent of terrorist attacks and security forces operations were recorded in the same provinces.
The total number of deaths recorded in the three quarters of this year now exceeds the total number of deaths recorded in all of 2023; The number of deaths has dropped to at least 1,534 in the first three quarters, compared to 1,523 in 2023.
Meanwhile, terrorist groups are continuously organizing and strengthening their ranks. According to the report, most of the terror attacks went unclaimed by terrorist or insurgent groups, possibly for tactical reasons.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
