Wanted Pakistani Taliban militant gunned down in nation’s Punjab province

Pakistan’s safety forces have gunned down a high-profile militant of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Punjab province.

Pakistan’s safety forces gunned down a high-profile militant of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Punjab province. (Representative photograph)

By Press Trust of India: Pakistan’s safety forces have gunned down a high-profile militant of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Punjab province, as the federal government intensified its offensive towards the outfit following a pointy rise in terror assaults throughout the nation.

Based on a tip-off, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police raided a TTP hideout in Khanewal, located round 300 km from Lahore on Wednesday.

“A police crew reached the spot and surrounded the militants and requested them to give up. However, within the resultant cross-fire, a wished militant was killed, however two others managed to flee,” the CTD stated in an announcement.

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The militant was recognized as Irfanullah Afridi, a resident of Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Police have recovered a Kalashnikov rifle, two hand grenades, 11 bullets, {a magazine} and a TTP flag from the hideout.

The CTD stated Afridi was a wished militant who orchestrated quite a few terror assaults throughout the nation.

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In a separate raid on Thursday, the CTD arrested two militants of the outfit, recognized as Hayatullah and Wakil Khan from Rawalpindi metropolis in Punjab province, it stated.

According to the CTD, each belonged to TTP’s Haji Fakir Group, and have been assigned to focus on Saint Paul Church, Covenant School and district courts in Rawalpindi.

The newest raids by the safety forces comes days after 12 TTP militants have been gunned down within the nation’s restive northwest province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Pakistan has been hit by a wave of terrorism, principally within the nation’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and likewise in Balochistan and Punjab provinces.

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During the Apex Committee assembly earlier this month, Pakistan’s civil and army management determined to hunt Afghan Taliban chief Haibuttallah Akhundzada’s intervention to regulate the TTP.

In November final 12 months, the TTP known as off an indefinite ceasefire agreed with the federal government in June 2022 and ordered its militants to hold out assaults on the safety forces.

On January 30, a Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up in a high-security mosque in Peshawar, killing over 100 worshippers and injuring 200 others.

The TTP, arrange as an umbrella group of a number of militant outfits in 2007, known as off a ceasefire with the federal authorities and ordered its militants to stage terrorist assaults throughout the nation.

The group, which is believed to be near Al-Qaeda, has been blamed for a number of lethal assaults throughout Pakistan, together with an assault on military headquarters in 2009, assaults on army bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban stormed the Army Public School (APS) within the northwestern metropolis of Peshawar, killing not less than 150 folks, together with 131 college students.

Posted By:

Raajnandini Mukherjee

Published On:

Feb 9, 2023