12 TTP militants from Orakzai surrender before security forces

Part of the Aslam Farooqi group of TTP, they were headed by local commander Hafiz Daulat

HANGU: Twelve members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from Orakzai Agency surrendered to security forces in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a senior security official said on Monday.

Part of the Aslam Farooqi group of the TTP, the 12 militants were headed by local commander Hafiz Daulat, said the security official, adding that "they surrendered because security forces have taken complete control of the area, and there is nowhere to hide".

With senior militant commanders either dead or escaping, "there is no choice – either lay down your weapons or choose the same fate," he concluded.

Read: Four killed in Orakzai Agency attack

The identified men include Shadid, Abdullah, Eidullah, Mir Khan, Amin Ullah, Muhammad Amin, Irfan, Hazrat Muhammad, Mela Khan, Spin Mir Khan, Muhammad Adeel, Din Ullah.

Orakzai is one of the country’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Taliban and other militants were said to have strongholds before the start of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in June 2014.

The military intensified its operations against militants in the tribal belt in the aftermath of deadly Taliban attack on Army Public School in Peshawar that killed 150 people, mostly children in December 2014.