Armed response: One killed, 120 arrested in joint operation
Police, army personnel launch operation in response to militant attacks in Mattani.
It (the operation) was long overdue as this was the third attack in the same area, says Mattani police station officia. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
PESHAWAR:
A man was killed and around 120 suspects were arrested in a search operation in Mariamzai, Sara Khwara and Ghaziabad on Sunday.
The operation was launched at around 9am and continued till 2pm. A man, whose identity could not be ascertained till the filing of this report, was killed near Mattani Bypass during the assault. The operation was carried out by police and army personnel who were backed by paramilitary forces. Dozens of suspect houses were searched and over 120 persons were arrested from various villages.
Requesting anonymity, an official of the Mattani police station told The Express Tribune the decision to conduct a large-scale search operation was taken in response to an attack on an army patrol, which claimed the lives of six soldiers and left two others injured. Two military vehicles were also destroyed in the attack.
“It (the operation) was long overdue as this was the third attack in the same area. These assaults have left over a dozen army and police personnel dead since the general elections,” he said, adding most people who had been taken into custody were tribesmen from Akka Khel, Khyber Agency.
He added Mattani consists of a vast hinterland which provides potential attackers an advantage as pursuit is extremely difficult in the challenging terrain. “We have searched several houses and recovered arms and ammunition,” he said. “A man was killed in Ghaziabad near Mattani Bypass when he resisted a search operation.”
Militants have been active in the area since the general elections and have ambushed police and army convoys in addition to killing a member of the local peace militia in Mashogagar in a bomb attack. An attack on a police post in the same village also left three policemen injured in adjacent Badhaber. Additionally, a member of the Adezai peace militia, Misri Khan, was gunned down in Sherakera three days ago.
Militants have taken control of Frontier Region Peshawar and have asked several schools in Sherakera, Mattani to put an end to co-education.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2013.
A man was killed and around 120 suspects were arrested in a search operation in Mariamzai, Sara Khwara and Ghaziabad on Sunday.
The operation was launched at around 9am and continued till 2pm. A man, whose identity could not be ascertained till the filing of this report, was killed near Mattani Bypass during the assault. The operation was carried out by police and army personnel who were backed by paramilitary forces. Dozens of suspect houses were searched and over 120 persons were arrested from various villages.
Requesting anonymity, an official of the Mattani police station told The Express Tribune the decision to conduct a large-scale search operation was taken in response to an attack on an army patrol, which claimed the lives of six soldiers and left two others injured. Two military vehicles were also destroyed in the attack.
“It (the operation) was long overdue as this was the third attack in the same area. These assaults have left over a dozen army and police personnel dead since the general elections,” he said, adding most people who had been taken into custody were tribesmen from Akka Khel, Khyber Agency.
He added Mattani consists of a vast hinterland which provides potential attackers an advantage as pursuit is extremely difficult in the challenging terrain. “We have searched several houses and recovered arms and ammunition,” he said. “A man was killed in Ghaziabad near Mattani Bypass when he resisted a search operation.”
Militants have been active in the area since the general elections and have ambushed police and army convoys in addition to killing a member of the local peace militia in Mashogagar in a bomb attack. An attack on a police post in the same village also left three policemen injured in adjacent Badhaber. Additionally, a member of the Adezai peace militia, Misri Khan, was gunned down in Sherakera three days ago.
Militants have taken control of Frontier Region Peshawar and have asked several schools in Sherakera, Mattani to put an end to co-education.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2013.