Representative image of a Pakistan flag.
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Peshawar: Security forces killed several militants of the banned TTP in multiple operations in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, authorities said.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants opened fire at a police convoy headed by the District Police Officer (DPO) North Waziristan Waqar Khan on Miranshah Road, Bannu district, police said.
The militants attacked the convoy using automatic and heavy weapons. However, the DPO and other policemen retaliated, killing several terrorists, and causing others to flee from the scene.
Police officials did not specify the number of militants killed.
Six policemen also sustained injuries and were shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, where they were provided medical treatment.
DPO Khan and his squad escaped unharmed as his vehicle was bulletproof. The area was cordoned off by the police, and a search operation was launched.
Separately, the military killed three TTP militants in two separate engagements in the province. Two of those killed were identified as Afghan nationals, the military's media wing said in a statement on Monday.
In the first incident, security forces picked up the movement of militants trying to infiltrate through Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the North Waziristan district. They engaged the militants, killing two of them.
In the Tank district, law enforcement forces conducted an intelligence-based operation and killed a militant.
“These incidents reveal continued involvement of Afghan nationals in numerous terrorist activities against innocent civilians and security forces inside Pakistan,” the statement said.
In a separate incident, security forces killed a senior Daesh-Khorasan operative involved in several high-profile assassinations during an intelligence-based operation in the province, according to officials.
Daesh Khorasan refers to the banned terror outfit Islamic State - Khorasan Province (ISKP), primarily active in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of Central Asia.
The militant was gunned down in the Kausar area of Bajaur district.
He was reportedly behind multiple target killings, including those of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Rehan Zeb, Awami National Party’s Maulana Khan Zeb, the Deputy Commissioner of Nawagai, Buner district, and several police and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam members.
He had earlier been imprisoned at Kabul’s Pul-e-Charkhi Jail and was released following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, officials said, adding that he entered Pakistan in 2023 and has been orchestrating attacks in Bajaur and adjoining areas.
Separately, in the Lali Khel area in Tank district, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation and killed an Afghan militant while he was planting an improvised explosive device (IED).
Pakistan has seen a surge in terrorist attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, mostly targeting police, law enforcement personnel, and security forces.
The spike followed TTP's breach of a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.