Army chief vows ‘terror-free’ Pakistan

Military planes strafe militants’ hideouts, killing 20 terrorists

ISLAMABAD:

The Army chief on Friday vowed to apprehend all terrorists, their facilitators and financiers in order to achieve the objective of a ‘terror free’ Pakistan as fighter jets strafed militant hideouts near the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Agency, killing at least 20 suspected militants and injuring 18 others.

According to military’s media wing, ISPR, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif expressed this resolve during a visit to Khyber Agency, where the military is engaged in Operation Khyber One.

Khyber One, started in October last year, was undertaken to root out terrorists who had taken refuge in the area following the start of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan Agency (NWA).

The army chief spent the entire day with troops and tribal people in the agency, said the ISPR chief Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa in a series of tweets on the micro-blogging site, Twitter.

General Raheel first visited Jawaro near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and reviewed progress of the ongoing operation, which is in its final phase. “Talking to troops, he commended their professional commitment and paid them rich tributes for their sacrifices in restoration of peace and normalcy to the troubled region,” said the ISPR statement.

The army chief said the terrorists’ strongholds in the agency had been smashed and now fight was in progress in the last few pockets, close to the border areas.

“Noose has been tightened and terrorists will not be allowed to reestablish themselves,” he said.

Gen Raheel said the area in which operation had been carried out was heavily infested with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), mostly foreign-made and that after the NWA, terrorists in Khyber Agency were using the most rugged terrain as their strongholds.

Army chief also visited de-radicalisation centre in Bara, where people who had surrendered during the operation were being imparted education and vocational training.

The COAS complimented the tribal brethren for their full support in evicting terrorists from the agency and also appreciated their resolve of not allowing terrorists to make a comeback. He specially paid rich tributes to the Shuhada and the wounded.

The army chief also lauded the efforts of all law enforcement agencies in their counter-terrorism efforts all across the country. He acknowledged and appreciated the support of the entire nation and vowed that “Inshallah with unflinching national resolve and clear direction, we will accomplish our end objective of a terror-free Pakistan.”

Air raids near border

Meanwhile, ISPR confirmed that warplanes carried out airstrikes at the Mata Kandaw area near Pak-Afghan border early Friday morning and killed 20 terrorists while injuring eighteen others. A number of militants’ dens and compounds in the area, considered a stronghold of militants, were destroyed in the attack, the officials claimed.

These militants are known for carrying out terrorist acts on both sides of the Durand Line. The official claim could not be confirmed through independent sources as the area is out of bound for journalists.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2015.