Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Asif Yaseen Malik on Thursday said the armed forces had decided to launch a military operation in Kurram Agency. “Military action against terrorists has been decided in accordance with the unanimous demand of the traditional tribal jirga,” he said while talking to a group of reporters at his office. He said the militants had made the life of the locals miserable in the agency. However, the corps commander did not give a timeline for the military offensive against the terrorists.
Deployment of the security forces is in progress in Kurram since Tuesday. On June 24, helicopter gunships bombed suspected hideouts of militants in Kurram, which resulted in the death of 15 people, including nine militants. The corps commander said military action in the border areas of North and South Waziristan was in progress, while Bajaur and Mohmand had already been cleared. There were reports regarding the fleeing of a large number of local and foreign militants from North Waziristan into Kurram and Orakzai agencies and the tribal jirga had requested an early military action against the terrorists in the area.
