Forces gun down three terrorists in K-P raids

One militant arrested; they were planning attacks on Moharram processions

D I KHAN/PESHAWAR: Security forces on Sunday gunned down three terrorists and arrested one militant from Khyber-Pakhutnkhwa as they were planning to target this year’s Muharram processions. Two separate search operations were conducted in Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar.

Three Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) terrorists, who were also associated with the banned militant outfit Sipah e Sahaba, were gunned down in a joint operation conducted by the police and the security forces in the Daran area of Dera Ismail Khan district.

District Police Officer Raja Abdul Saboor told The Express Tribune that the joint operation was conducted after the security forces received intelligence of their presence in the area. He added that the terrorists were gunned down in an exchange of fire which had ensued after the men made an attempt to avoid arrest.

DPO Saboor also confirmed that the men were planning to target the ninth and tenth of Muharram processions.

Police, after verifying the identity of the men at the local hospital, confirmed that militant Iqbal was wanted for attacking security check posts, police and other security forces in the Kolachi area of D I Khan district.



Iqbal was also involved in the killing of prominent Shia scholars and people in the district and carried a head money of Rs1 million.

While the two others were identified as Majeed and Wahid, said the police, adding that during the operation three suicide jackets, three AK 47, pistols and Afghan SIMs were also recovered.

The police have also arrested 30 suspects during the operation. They added that Section 144 has also been imposed in the district.

Meanwhile, the police also thwarted a possible attack on a Muharram procession by arresting one terrorist from the outskirts of Peshawar.

According to details the police had launched an operation after it had received a tip-off that the terrorists were planning to shift explosives as well as arms and ammunition to the inner city to target the processions.

During the operation, police spotted two suspicious people in the Khazana area on the outskirts Peshawar and asked them to stop. However, one of the suspects stopped while his accomplice escaped. The terrorist arrested was identified as Ihsanullah. Three kilogrammes of high explosives, three hand grenades and a 9mm pistol were seized from his possession.



A police official told The Express Tribune that the man who escaped has been identified as Rizwan and is also a wanted militant who hails from Afghanistan.

PO arrested

In a separate incident a policeman and an army man were injured in an encounter with a proclaimed offender (PO) while carrying out a joint search and strike operation.

A police official told The Express Tribune that a search and strike operation was underway in the Khazana area on the outskirts of Peshawar, when a PO, along with three other accomplices, hiding inside a house opened fire at them which injured a police constable and a sepoy.

The injured policeman, however, returned fire and injured PO Sangeen Khan who was later arrested. The police added that Khan was wanted in a murder case.

“He was wanted by the Tehkal police in a murder and attempted murder case,” said the official. He added that the injured PO has been arrested, and both the injured constable as well as the army man had been shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH).