Key heights secured in Rajgal area of Tirah

LANDIKOTAL: The military has secured key heights in a strategic valley of the Khyber tribal region where they launched an operation to eliminate pockets of terrorists on Tuesday, according to officials.

Operation Khyber-III was mounted in Rajgal area of Tirah Valley, right on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan to “effectively check the movement of terrorists”. The area is tucked deep in high mountains with a treacherous terrain and all-weather passes.

Nine terrorists were killed in ground and air assaults in the region on Saturday, the military said in a statement. Six bases of terrorists were also decimated. With the latest casualties, the number of terrorists killed since the launch of Khyber-III has risen to 30-plus.

Army chief General Raheel Sharif visited the front-lines on Friday where he was briefed on the gains of the operation. He promised that all pockets of terrorists would be eliminated in the region.

Elsewhere in Khyber Agency, a tribal policeman was shot dead by suspected terrorists in Ghundai village of Jamrud tehsil.

Shakil Khan, a member of the Khyber Khasadar Force, was targeted when he left home to report for duty Saturday morning, said officials of the political administration.  He was driven to hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the killing, but officials called it an act of terror. After the deadly attack, the Khasadar force mounted a manhunt in Ghundai village and detained four suspects for questioning.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2016.