Security forces have killed 11 terrorists in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) over the past 48 hours, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday.
The military’s media wing stated that forces had engaged multiple terrorist locations through a series of Intelligence-Based Operations in the area. “Following intense and fierce exchanges of fire, eleven khawarij belonging to India-sponsored Fitna-al-Khawarij were effectively neutralised,” the ISPR said.
Fitna-al-Khawarij is the term used by the state for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists, who ISPR said had been involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area. The military’s statement added that sanitisation operations are continuing under the counter-terrorism campaign ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’, approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi praised the security forces for the operation, with his ministry saying he commended their “professional capabilities” in carrying out the strike against “India-sponsored terrorists” in Datta Khel.
Earlier this week, ISPR had reported the killing of another 22 terrorists in North Waziristan. The operations come as security forces have stepped up counter-terrorism activity across KP and Balochistan.
Last week, a major-ranked officer was among five soldiers martyred during a sanitisation operation in Balochistan’s Barkhan district, following which at least three commanders of Balochistan-based terrorist groups were arrested and 35 of their operatives killed.
