PESHAWAR, Oct 8:
At least 11 military personnel, including a Lt Colonel and a Major, were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, the army said on Wednesday.
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In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the media wing of the military – said that 19 terrorists of the ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’ were also killed during the operation in Orakzai district on Tuesday night.
The Pakistan Government last year notified the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as “Fitna al-Khawarij”, a reference to a group in earlier Islamic history which was involved in violence.
The intelligence-based operation was conducted by the security forces on the reported presence of terrorists belonging to “Fitna al-Khawarij” on the intervening night of October 7-8, the ISPR statement said.
During the “intense” exchange of fire between security forces and the militants, 19 terrorists “were sent to hell”, the statement said.
It said that 39-year-old Lt Col Junaid Tariq, who was leading his troops from the front, and his second-in-command, 33-year-old Major Tayyab Rahat, were killed along with nine of their men.
A sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other terrorists in the area, the statement added. (PTI)
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