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Pakistan security forces killed 24 terrorists in a series of intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) Bannu district and adjoining areas over the past 24 hours, following a recent spike in attacks on police and vehicle-borne suicide bombing in the district, the military’s media wing said on Friday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operations were launched “in the backdrop of a recent surge in terrorist activities against Police and vehicle-borne suicide bombing in Bannu District, in which Indian Proxy Fitna Al Khawarij targeted law enforcement agencies and innocent civilians”.
Fitna al-Khawarij is the term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“Security forces had initiated extensive joint intelligence-based operations to hunt the perpetrators of these heinous attacks and their support infrastructure,” it added.
The military’s media wing said, “In the last twenty-four hours following the fierce fire exchanges in Bannu district and adjoining areas, twenty-four khwarij belonging to Indian proxy Fitna Al Khwarij were killed”. He added that those targeting innocent civilians and law enforcement personnel deserved no leniency, and reaffirmed that the nation stood firmly alongside the security forces and law enforcement agencies.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also praised the security forces for their successful intelligence-based operations, commending their professionalism and bravery.
The ISPR said weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed Khwarij, who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities and the killing of innocent civilians”.
“The operations in the area will continue and perpetrators of these heinous and cowardly acts will be brought to justice, as the relentless Counter Terrorism campaign under the vision “Azm-e-Istehkam” (as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” the statement concluded.