ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani army said on Tuesday it had conducted an operation and shot dead a militant involved in this week’s killing of four women instructors in northwestern Pakistan.
Monday’s attack took place in the village of Epi in Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan district in a former tribal region bordering Afghanistan, police told reporters, adding that the slain women were sent to the village by private vocational school Bravo Institute of Technology, Peshawar under an agreement with a Pakistani charity called Sabawon.
“Security Forces conducted IBO [intelligence based operation] in Mir Ali, North Waziristan on confirmation of presence of terrorists,” the Pakistan army’s media wing said in a statement. “During exchange of fire terrorist commander Hassan alias Sajna of TTP [Pakistan Taliban] Hafiz Gul Bahadur group killed.”
File photo of terrorist commander Hassan alias Sajna of TTP [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban] Hafiz Gul Bahadur group. (Photo courtesy: ISPR)
“Hassan alias Sajna was involved in killing of 4 women workers yesterday in Mir Ali,” the statement added.
Pakistani militants have stepped up their activities in the region in recent months, raising fears they were regrouping in an area that is a former Taliban stronghold. The Pakistan army denies this, saying it has secured the area.
