CTD storms IS camp in Balochistan

QUETTA:

A major disaster was averted on Monday when the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) killed at least 11 Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Balochistan’s Mastung district that were planning to conduct attacks in the largest province of the country.

According to CTD spokesperson, the intelligence-based operation was carried out after a tip-off was received by captured IS terrorist Abdul Haye about the presence of an IS training camp in Killi Qamar Mazar Abad area of Mastung that was meant to be used as a “terrorist launch pad” for conducting attacks in the future.

It is pertinent to note that Haye was the ring leader of a terrorist group involved in the Mastung Police Mobile Attack earlier in May 2021 that had resulted in the martyrdom of two police officers.

The CTD spokesperson added that the terrorists were told to surrender after the CTD team surrounded the entire IS camp but instead the terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing and lobbed grenades.

The ensuing shootout lasted for a while resulting in the death of 11 terrorists. All the CTD personnel that took part in the operation remained safe.

A large cache of arms and ammunition was also seized including four sub-machine guns with 360 rounds, one light machine gun with 80 rounds, two suicide jackets, three 9mm pistols, 15kgs of explosives, eight hand grenades and eight detonators.

Read CTD nabs two militants in Kohat

Efforts are underway to identify the slain terrorists.

A first information report has also been registered and further investigation is underway.

More raids are being planned in other areas of the province to nab the remaining members of the terrorist network.

Balochistan has witnessed a rise in attacks targeting security personnel. Earlier this year Frontier Corps soldiers had become a frequent target of terrorists in the province.

Last week, four security personnel were martyred in two separate blasts in Balochistan.

They included three Levies personnel that were martyred in a bomb attack on their vehicle in Ziarat while one official lost his life in an explosion in the Guargu area of Panjgur.

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau had strongly condemned the blast on the Levies unit in Ziarat.

The home minister had vowed to avenge the attack on the security personnel. "The series of operations against anti-social elements should continue more effectively," he had said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2021.