Seven terrorists killed in Mir Ali encounter

Anti-terror personnel were transporting criminals when they were attacked

PESHAWAR:

Three accused of terrorism were killed in an attack by their colleagues, who were trying to free them while being transported from Maranshah in North Waziristan to the Bannu district, by a team of the Counter-terrorism Department (CTD) of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The CTD team with the help of a team of security forces, which reached the spot timely, repulsed to the attack near Mir Ali by-pass, killing four assailants in an exchange of fire, the CTD said in a press release, adding that some five or six attackers escaped.

The press release said that a CTD operations team from North Waziristan was shifting three high-profile terror accused from Miranshah to Bannu in the night between Monday and Tuesday, when it was ambushed while on the way to Mir Ali Bypass.

The terrorists open indiscriminate fire with automatic weapons and also threw grenades at the convoy. A security forces team also reached the spot and returned the fire. The exchange of firing continued for some time, according to the press release.

Read MPs want in-camera briefing on militancy

“After the firing stopped, a joint search and clearance operation of the security forces began. Four terrorists were found dead, while five to six terrorists escaped, taking advantage of the darkness,” the press release added.

The dead terrorists allegedly belonged to various groups of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The three of them were identified as Irshadullah alias Abu Bakr from Zarar Banuchi Group; Abdul Rahman from the Ghazi Force Zafiruddin Group and Meher Deen from Zargul Group.

The CTD said that the identity of the fourth dead terrorist was being ascertained. It added that two soldiers of the security forces were injured in the terrorist attack, while the three accused were also killed.

The three arrested terrorists were wanted by the CTD in connection with several heinous crimes, including attacks on security forces and police, hand grenade attack on a police station and the target killing of a police constable.

A heavy contingent of security forces and police were on the spot and combined search operations continued to arrest the escaped terrorists. They recovered four SMGs with ammunition, bandoliers, and various other items from the possession of the dead terrorists, the press release concluded.