Terror purge: Troops swoop down on terrorists in South Punjab

Eight militants killed, 49 detained in Rajanpur

DG KHAN/ RAJANPUR/ LAHORE: Army troops backed by air power launched a massive combing operation in a remote area on the confluence of borders between South Punjab and Balochistan on Saturday.

A military spokesperson said eights terrorists were killed and a dozen wounded in the offensive which also claimed the life of a soldier.

The operation was targeted at militants, particularly from an outlawed separatist group, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), holed up in the Geyandari area of Rajanpur district which shares a border with Balochistan, according to Major Taj Muhammad, the ISPR director for South Punjab.

“Five army helicopters took part in the operation and bombed the hideouts of militants. A large amount of cash and weapons was recovered during the operation which is ongoing,” Major Taj said. “Around 49 militants have also been detained,” he added.

The slain terrorists were involved in terrorism-related offenses, including attacks on Kushhal Khan Khattak Express train and a wind power project of the Punjab government in the Azmaan tribal region of Rojhan, the ISPR official said. A Pakistan Army Hawaldar, Qismatullah, also died in the operation.

The conflict zone is off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the claim. Local sources, however, said the entrenched terrorists were putting up stiff resistance in the region where the military has restricted movement of people.

Sources in the Punjab government said the home department had been consulted before the launch of the operation. “Authorities will announce the names of the slain terrorists after identifying them,” one source added.

Chaudhry Zahoor Hussain, the senior commandant of the Border Military Police, said the operation was underway in an area between Koh-e-Sulaiman range in Balochistan and Mari Top in Punjab. DPO Rajanpur Irfanullah Khan said that since the military was conducting the operation, he did not have any information.

Meanwhile, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Punjab police recovered a huge cache of Indian weapons during an operation in the Kacha Jamal area of Rajanpur. The haul included three anti-aircraft guns, two rocket launchers, 27 AK-47 assault rifles, 1,500 bullets and 100kgs of explosives, a CTD official said.

The operation was conducted on the basis of information gleaned from Ghulam Rasool alias Chottu, a gangster who had surrendered to the army along with his gang during an operation in April this year.

According to an official, the paramilitary Rangers are preparing to conduct an operation after Eidul Azha in five districts of south Punjab, including Dera Ghazi Khan and tribal areas of Rajanpur.

Elsewhere in Punjab, police claim to have detained at least 45 suspects in search operations.

DIG Operations Dr Haider Ashraf said the searches were conducted in areas around sensitive installations, government buildings, educational institutes, railway stations, Chinese consulate, mosques and imambargahs in all divisions of Lahore.

The arrests were made after police quizzed at least 7,000 people. The suspects were shifted to undisclosed locations for interrogation. “Cases under tenancy laws were registered against 12 of them,” DIF Ashraf said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2016.