RAWALPINDI: At least seven terrorists were killed and six others were critically injured during an exchange of fire with the security forces in Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement on Sunday.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the intense exchange of fire took place in general area Ursoon of Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
🚨#ISPR 7 Terrorists Eliminated
On 9th September 2023, fire exchange took place between security forces and terrorists in area of Ursoon, #Chitral District
Our troops effectively engaged terrorists location and after intense exchange of fire, seven terrorists were killed,… pic.twitter.com/LNdFK0YiKm
— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) September 10, 2023
It said that the sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area. “Locals of the area appreciated the operation by the security forces and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country,” the statement further said.
The fresh incident comes a couple of days after the Pakistan Army repelled a cross-border raid from Afghanistan by a large group of TTP terrorists equipped with modern weapons targeting the two military posts located in the general area of Kalash in the Chitral district.
During an exchange of fire, at least 12 terrorists were killed while four Pakistani soldiers embraced martyrdom, according to the military’s media wing.
The ISPR said owing to the heightened threat environment, security was already on high alert.
“The valiant soldiers fought bravely and repulsed the attacks inflicting heavy casualties to the terrorists. During the fire exchange, twelve terrorists were sent to hell, while a large number has been critically injured.”
However, during the intense exchange of fire, four brave soldiers, having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat. Terrorists’ movement and concentration in Gawardesh, Pitigal, Barg-e-Matel and Batash areas of Nuristan and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan had already been picked up and were timely shared with the Interim Afghan government.
It further noted that the interim Afghan government was expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.
Earlier, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed to have launched a “grand operation” in Chitral district.
A spokesperson of the TTP claimed that the terrorist outfit captured many villages in Chitral that shares border with Kunar, Nuristan and Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said the Afghan government must not allow its soil to be used by banned TTP or any other group.
He said that Pakistan was in contact with the interim Afghan government on the issue.
Surge in terrorist attacks
The terror activities in recent months have witnessed a sharp surge, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the outlawed TTP announced ending a ceasefire with the government in November last year.
On August 22, six soldiers embraced martyrdom in an exchange of fire in South Waziristan district. At least four terrorists were killed in the gun battle.
In July, as many as 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan.
That was the military’s highest single-day death toll from terrorist attacks reported this year. Before this, 10 personnel were martyred in a ‘fire raid’ in Balochistan’s Kech district in February 2022.
A report released in July by the think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the first half of the current year witnessed a steady and alarming rise in terror and suicide attacks, claiming the lives of 389 people across the country.
