LAKKI MARWAT: The police on Sunday claimed to have killed three terrorists during a search operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s restive Lakki Marwat district, said a statement issued by the office of the provincial inspector general of police (IGP).
According to IGP Zulfikar Hameed’s statement, “acting on the reported presence of terrorists within the limits of Tajuri police station last night, the local police and the peace committee chased them. Lakki police, the Counter-Terrorism Department and the Special Quick Response Force launched the search operation.”
The statement said that the police in Lakki district were faced more cowardly acts by terrorists, which were being responded to strongly and effectively.
In its statement, the Lakki police said that the operation took place at 10:45am this morning in the Madozai forest and was led by District Police Officer Jawad Ishaq.
The IGP’s statement read, “In the operation, 20 to 25 terrorists were encountered within the limits of Tajuri and Bargai police stations. Heavy weapons were used by both sides in this two-hour long battle.
“The police fought very bravely and killed three terrorists without suffering any losses,” the IGP was quoted as saying. “Upon learning that, several injured terrorists fled the scene and a search operation was launched.”
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi congratulated Lakki police for the successful “search and strike operation” in a statement from his office posted on X.
“We are proud of the courage and professionalism of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police,” Naqvi was quoted as saying. “[The] KP Police are on the front lines in the war against terrorism [and are] determined to eliminate Khawarji, the statement added, using the term designating terrorists.
Pakistan has been grappling with an alarming surge in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
Militant violence and security operations intensified in the country in March, with the number of militant attacks surpassing 100 for the first time since November 2014, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (Picss).
In KP, at least 206 people were killed — including 49 security personnel, 34 civilians, and 123 militants — while 115 were injured, with 63 security personnel and 49 civilians among them, the Picss report said.
