Terror purge: Tirah air blitz kills 16 terrorists

Local sources say the dead militants belonged to TTP and Lashkar-e-Islam

JAMRUD: At least 16 terrorists were killed in fresh air strikes in a strategic valley of Khyber Agency that also decimated six hideouts of militants Saturday morning.

Fighter jets targeted hideouts of terrorists in Rajgal, Tor Chappar, Sattar Kalay, Naray Nao and Khok Oghaz areas of Tirah Valley before dawn, according to an official of security forces. Six bases of terrorists were eliminated in the blitzkrieg, resulting in the death of 16 terrorists, the official said, adding that another five militants were wounded.

Local sources said the slain terrorists belonged to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Mangal Bagh’s proscribed religious extremist group Lashkar-e-Islam.

Tirah Valley, which shares borders with Orakzai and Kurram Agency and Afghan province of Nangarhar, was a stronghold of Mangal Bagh’s loyalists and militants from other terrorist groups, including the TTP, before the military launched an operation in the region in mid-October 2014.

In March, this year, the military announced completion of the Khyber operation, but intelligence-based strikes continue against hideouts of terrorists in scattered areas of the valley.

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