KARACHI: Two militants were killed and one was apprehended in a joint intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Saturday.
The operation was jointly conducted with law enforcement agencies in Charbagh area of the Swat district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
The deceased militants included Atta Ullah alias Mehran who was involved in multiple militant activities, including a bomb attack in Swat on a convoy of foreign diplomats last month that killed one police officer.
“Sanitization of the area is being carried out,” the ISPR said in a statement. “Security forces in coordination with law enforcement agencies are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.”
Swat — a snow-capped mountain valley split by turquoise waters — is one of Pakistan’s most famed beauty spots, but its reputation has a dark side.
In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban while campaigning as a schoolgirl for education in the same district that later earned her the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Pakistani Taliba historically have roots in Afghanistan and share the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban. From 2007 to 2009, they killed thousands of civilians and seized control of several areas of Swat Valley before being driven back by the military.
Pakistan has seen a rise in militant attacks in recent months and says militants mainly associated with the Pakistani Taliban frequently launch attacks from hideouts in neighboring Afghanistan, targeting police and other security forces.
Islamabad has even blamed Kabul’s Afghan Taliban rulers for facilitating anti-Pakistan militants. Kabul denies the charges.
Pakistani military says two militants killed in volatile northwest
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Pakistani military says two militants killed in volatile northwest
- One of the deceased militants was said to be involved in bomb attack on convoy of foreign diplomats
- Pakistan blames surge in militancy on groups operating from Afghanistan, Kabul denies the allegations