Zhob operation: Bomber strikes during FC raid on TTP camp

Two would-be suicide bombers captured, huge stockpile of arms and ammunition seized

QUETTA:

A suicide bomber blew himself up as paramilitary forces raided a camp of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the Killi Gwal area of Zhob district on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, security forces conducted a search operation near Subakzai dam in the Killi Gwal area of Zhob near the border with Afghanistan, where TTP militants had stockpiled arms and ammunition, said a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC).

“Around 400 kilogrammes of explosives, 50 suicide jackets, 60 to 70 IEDs, three rocket launchers, 20 pistols, 10 submachine guns (SMGs) and 3,000 rounds of different types of guns were seized from the camp,” he claimed.

The paramilitary troops also captured two would-be suicide bombers who were ready to detonate the explosives strapped to their bodies, he added. “A third suicide bomber, however, blew himself up following a gunbattle between militants and the security forces. Two explosives-laden vehicles and a motorcycle were destroyed in the blast,” the FC spokesperson said.



The bomber’s body was handed over to the Levies force in Zhob. The FC spokesman said that the TTP militants had stockpiled arms and ammunition in the camp which they intended to use for terrorist attacks in different parts of Balochistan.

IGFC Major General Ejaz Shahid praised the timely action by his force. “Foreign countries are bankrolling TTP militants for targeting innocent schoolchildren,” he said referring to the December 16 massacre at the Army Public School and College in Peshawar.

“They [TTP militants] are undermining the sovereignty of Pakistan,” he said in a statement.

“Such cruel elements would not be allowed to operate in any part of the province, and security forces will use their complete strength to eliminate such elements,” he added.

Elsewhere a paramilitary soldier was killed and two were wounded when militants ambushed an FC convoy in the Sui area of the Bugti Tribal Territory on Saturday. At least eight militants were killed and 11 were wounded in a retaliatory action by FC troops.

“The FC troops were on routine patrol in the area when militants opened fire on their vehicle, killing one soldier on the spot and injuring two others,” according to the FC spokesman. The dead and injured FC soldiers were transported to hospital in Sui.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2014.