Five TTP terrorists killed in Orakzai raid

Two servicemen also died fighting terrorists during gunfight

HANGU/ ISLAMABAD: Five terrorists – among them a high value target – were killed during an intelligence-driven raid by security forces in Orakzai tribal region on Wednesday. Two paramilitary soldiers – including a major – also went down fighting with terrorists during a gunfight trigged by the raid.

The deadly raid took place as army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in a video message reaffirmed his pledge to cleanse the country of terrorism. The message was released on the eve of 77^th Pakistan Day.

The intelligence based operation (IBO) was carried out at Mirak village, in the Kalaya area of Lower Orakzai Wednesday morning, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). “Five terrorists, including [a] high value target terrorist [Shah] Duran of the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan] were killed. In the exchange of fire, Major Mudassar and Sepoy Mateehullah embraced shahadat.”



A senior security official told The Express Tribune that the security forces had been tipped off about the presence of terrorists in the village. “When the Frontier Corps troops reached the hideout, the terrorists holed up inside fired a barrage of gunshots, killing the major and the sepoy.  Another soldier, identified as Sepoy Shaukat, was seriously injured,” he said, while requesting anonymity.

He said the security forces fired back and in the ensuing gunfight Shah Duran and his four comrades were killed.

The security forces later cordoned off the area and mounted a search operation which yielded dozens of arrests and a cache of heavy arms and ammunition were also recovered.

Shah Duran, according to the ISPR, had been involved in several terrorist activities. “He was sent from Afghanistan with the task to target a Nauroz procession in Orakzai Agency and target-kill the individuals who surrendered to the security forces.”

The funeral of the martyred soldiers was offered at the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar where attendees included Corps Commander Lt Gen Nazir Ahmed Butt and other civil and military officials.   The bodies would be shifted to their native areas for burial with full military honours.

As part of the ongoing operation, Radd-ul-Fasaad, security forces also carried out a raid in Tabai Bazaar of Khyber Agency on the basis of information gleaned from a detained terrorist. During the raid, forces recovered a huge quantity of grenades, rockets and guns of different caliber.

A sanitisation operation was also conducted in Tangi Budan Zai village of South Waziristan Agency’s Makin Teshil during which a huge cache of arms and ammunition – including rifles, pistols, SMGs, RPG rockets, anti-tank mines, and grenades – were recovered.