- Maj Gen Khattak says Pentagon report on militant havens ‘baseless, malicious and demoralising’
- Zarb-e-Azb commander says 42 officers and soldiers killed, 155 injured in ongoing operation
- 1,198 terrorists killed, 356 injured, 227 arrested during Zarb-e-Azb
A top army official leading the action against militants in North Waziristan on Saturday said that Operation Zarb-e-Azb was being carried out against all militants group, including the Haqqani network, and that a number of militant commanders belonging to the militant outfit have also been killed in the offensive.
Briefing reporters from both national and international media at the army headquarters in Mir Ali, North Waziristan on Saturday, Major General Zafarullah Khan Khattak said that commanders of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant organisation working against China, have also been killed and the network destroyed in the operation in North Waziristan.
Khattak also rejected a recent Pentagon report which accused Pakistan of providing safe havens to Islamic extremists who are attacking India across its eastern border and Afghanistan over its western frontier.
The general termed the report “baseless, malicious, demoralising and contrary to ground realities”.
“There is no such thing [happening here as is] mentioned in the Pentagon report. Pakistan Army is not using militants anywhere for so called proxy wars,” he said.
The commander expressed the hope that Pak-Afghan border security issues could be settled at the political level through talks, and said the visit by the Afghan President to Pakistan is timely and would help in better border management.
Giving the latest figure about casualties, the commander said 42 officers and security forces personnel have been killed while 155 are injured in the ongoing operation.
“1,198 terrorists have been killed, 356 injured, and 227 have been arrested by security forces,” he said.
“11 private jails, 191 secret tunnels 39 IED factories, 4,991 various types of ready-made IEDs, 132 ton explosive material, 2,470 sub machine guns, 293 machine guns, 111 heavy machine guns have also been recovered during the operation,” he added.
Giving an estimate of the recovered weapons and explosives, he said the quantity of the weapons and ammunition recovered from militants could have been used to kill over 88,000 people and was massive enough to sustain war against security forces for more than 15 years.
Maj Gen Khattak said Miranshah, Mir Ali, Boya, Dattakhel and Ghulam Khan areas of the tribal belt have been cleared, however, clearance operations are still underway.
About rehabilitation of the IDPs, he said fool proof mechanism has been adopted to ensure that militants are not returned to the area.
During briefing and field visits, pictures of dead bodies of the militants and weapons recovered were also shown to the media.
