Operation Khyber-IV: Phase–I completed as troops capture strategic peak

Troops clear summit of Brekh Muhammad Kandao following overnight push

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan flag fluttered 12,000 feet above sea level, on the Brekh Muhammad Kandao peak in the rugged Rajgal Valley of Khyber Agency, much sooner than anticipated after Pakistani forces completed Phase-I of Operation Khyber-IV, security officials said on Saturday.

Following an overnight push on Friday, the troops captured the strategic mountaintop which provided militants a vantage point to scan for and preempt any attempt to dislodge them from their last bastion.

“Every inch of the area was rigged with IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” a senior security official who looked over the operational success told The Express Tribune. “We defused 31 IEDs on our way to the summit,” he added.



“We managed to kill 25 high-profile militants affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaatul Ahrar and Lashkar-e-Islam amongst other groups,” he added.

Explaining the importance of the height, the official said it provided terrorists a stronghold from which they could survey the entire Rajgal area and mount stiff resistance. “Now that it has been cleared and captured, it will make it easier for us to conduct surveillance and help us clear more territory of terrorists sooner,” he said.

So far, two security officials have been martyred during Operation Khyber-IV.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement issued on Saturday, said: “Operation [Khyber-IV] continued with major achievement last night when troops, including SSG (Special Services Group) successfully cleared the highest and craggiest mountaintop Brekh Muhammad Kandao near Pak-Afghan border.”

“Many terrorists were killed, a few fled to Afghanistan. Terrorist hideout dismantled, cache of IEDs, arms and ammunition recovered. Terrorists gave stiff resistance but couldn't sustain against determination of Pakistani troops. Having cleared the top, the forces have established posts on the over 12,000-feet-high feature which is riddled with thick forestation,” the statement said.



“This mountaintop was being used as a main observation point and its base as a transit/storage point. The mountaintop was planned to be cleared little later as per initial plan but with high tempo operation it has been cleared well ahead of planned timings,” the military’s media wing added.

“With the capture of the Brekh Muhammad Kandao peak, Phase-I of Operation Khyber-IV has been completed,” another official said. He added that the clearance of Rajgal is still in process.

Khyber-IV is part of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, or Elimination of Discord, which was launched in February after a sharp uptick in terrorist attacks in the country. It is aimed at “indiscriminately eliminating the residual/latent threat of terrorism”, consolidating the gains made in other military operations.

The military had earlier announced it had cleared large swathes of Rajgal Valley as troops advanced from multiple directions to “exterminate and debilitate the terrorists”.

The operation in Rajgal Valley is critical as the region could provide a key route to Islamic State terrorists operating from Afghanistan to establish a foothold in Pakistan. Officials in Pakistan deny that the IS – also known by its Arabic acronym Da’ish – has an organised presence in the country, though the Middle Eastern terrorist group has claimed responsibility for some attacks.