Five militants, one policeman killed in three military operations in Pakistan’s northwest — army

ISLAMABAD: Five militants and a Pakistani policeman were killed in three military operations in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani army said on Monday.
The northwestern Pakistani province, which borders Afghanistan, has been the scene of a number of attacks on police, security forces and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent weeks.
In a joint intelligence-based operation, three militants were gunned down in KP’s Mohmand district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing. However, an exchange of gunfire with militants left Police Constable Abrar Hussain dead.
“During the conduct of the operation, terrorists’ hideout was also busted and a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives was recovered,” the ISPR said in a statement.
In the second operation in Dera Ismail Khan, security forces killed Sifatullah alias Mullah and injured three other militants.
“Sifatullah was involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area including facilitation of suicide bombing attack in Daraban on 12 December 2023 and was highly wanted by law enforcement agencies,” the ISPR said.
Another militant was killed in a gunfight in the North Waziristan district, according to the army.
In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hailed security forces for the successful operations and paid homage to the police constable killed in the Mohmand district.
“The Pakistani nation stands by its security forces until the menace of terrorism is completely eradicated from the country,” he said.
Pakistan initially witnessed a spike in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the Pakistani Taliban called off their fragile truce with the government in November 2022. The group has intensified its attacks in recent months.
In a major attack in KP’s Bannu, ten soldiers were killed when militants launched a coordinated assault on a military cantonment on July 15.
Islamabad has blamed the recent surge in attacks on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue for Islamabad.