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- Three ‘terrorists’ killed, three others injured during operation in northwestern Tirah valley, says army
- Development follows Saturday’s attack on a PAF training base in Mianwali in which 9 militants were killed
ISLAMABAD: A lieutenant colonel and three Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in an intelligence-based operation on Monday in northwestern Pakistan, the army’s media wing said, as Islamabad grapples with rising militant attacks in the country.
Lt. Col. Muhammad Hassan Haider led an intelligence-based operation in the northwestern Tirah valley in Khyber district on Monday over the reported presence of militants in the area, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The army’s media wing said during the “intense exchange of fire,” three militants were killed while three others were injured.
Haider, 43, Naik Khushdil Khan, 31, Naik Rafique Khan, 27, and Lance Naik Abdul Qadir, 33, were killed during the exchange of fire, the ISPR said.
“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR said.
In this handout photo, taken and released by Pakistan's Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), military personnel carry the coffin of security officials who were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Tirah Valley of Khyber district on November 6, 2023. (Photo courtesy: ISPR)
It added that a sanitization operation is being carried out to eliminate any “terrorists” in the area.
The development follows Saturday’s attack on a Pakistan Air Force training base in the eastern Mianwali city. Three of the attackers were killed while entering the base, whereas six others were eliminated in a combing and clearance operation, the military said.
The military said “no damage” had been done to any functional operational assets at the airfield.
Last Friday, three separate attacks killed 21 people, including 15 security personnel, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces that border Afghanistan.
The South Asian country has been witnessing an uptick in militant attacks, particularly after the Pakistan Taliban called off their fragile truce with the government in November 2022, with a majority of these incidents targeting the two provinces along the Afghan border.