12 militants killed in Karak, Kalat operations

KARAK/KOHAT: Twelve militants were killed and several others injured in clashes during an operation in the mountainous Karkando area along the Kohat-Karak boundary and in a Kalat IBO, police officials and ISPR said on Saturday.

Regional Police Officer (RPO), Kohat Region, Abbas Majeed Marwat said the operation was launched after receiving intelligence reports about the presence of militants in the rugged border hills of Karkando.

He said that police conducted a large-scale action, resulting in the killing of eight militants, while several others sustained injuries. One police official also sustained minor injuries in the exchange of fire.

The RPO said the operation was being carried out under his direct supervision, while District Police Officer (DPO), Karak, Saud Khan, was present at the site along with a heavy police contingent and personnel of intelligence agencies.

Abbas Majeed Marwat said that an exchange of fire between the police and militants was still going on in the area. During the operation, he said, several hideouts of militants in the mountainous terrain were destroyed.

He added the bodies of slain militants were lying in the hilly area, while their accomplices were firing at the police in an attempt to retrieve the bodies.

Meanwhile, security forces have killed four Indian-backed terrorists in Balochistan’s Kalat district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday.

In a statement, the military’s media wing said that on December 27, the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) on the reported presence of terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al-Hindustan.

During the conduct of the operation, “own forces effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, and after an intense fire exchange, four Indian sponsored terrorists were sent to hell”.

Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area, the military’s media wing added.

It added that sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorists found in the area.

“Relentless counter-terrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm e Istehkam’ […] by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”