Major Peshawar sweep nets over 80 arrests

Hours-long operation part of search for militants involved in the December 16 attack

PESHAWAR:

Law enforcers and security personnel arrested over 80 suspects during a joint search operation in the Warsak Road area of Peshawar on Sunday.

“Peshawar police and security forces conducted a joint search operation across Peshawar district,” a security official told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity. “More than 80 suspected militants were arrested in the operation, conducted in the Kababyan, Shami Road, Babu Garhi, Bihari Colony and other adjacent areas of the district,” he said, adding that the detained suspects have been moved to an unidentified location for further investigation.

According to the official, the hours-long operation was part of the search for militants involved in the December 16 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. He said law enforcement and security personnel had blocked all routes leading towards Warsak Road. The security forces troops conducting the search for militants were accompanied by lady police officers, he added.

Meanwhile, a Frontier Corps (FC) soldier wounded in an earlier clash with militants in Peshawar passed away at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) on Sunday. Naik Dil Faraz was critically injured during an exchange of fire with militants in the city’s Michani area on Friday.

Another FC soldier, Hawaldar Zia, who was also injured in the Michani clash, is still undergoing treatment at the CMH.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2014.