At least 27 suspects including nine Afghans allegedly belonging to a banned organisation were arrested Friday during a 12-hour long combing operation in Mastung district of Balochistan.
A heavy contingent of security forces and intelligence officials launched operation at 4:00am in Kanak area of Mastung on a tip-off regarding presence of terrorists involved in Quetta civil hospital attack.
A large number of weapons were recovered from their possession. The suspects were later shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation.
Separately, two alleged terrorists were arrested during a snap checking by Fort Police in Hyderabad. Six kilograms of explosives and a TT pistol was seized from their vehicle.
Earlier today, an Afghan terrorist were arrested in Hangu district. Heavy weapons and explosives were recovered from his possession.
On Thursday, at least 11 militants were killed in air strikes in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border as part of an ongoing offensive.
The latest operation in the Khyber district came just after the military said it had killed at least 14 militants in the same area Tuesday.
“Eleven terrorists were killed and four others injured when eight terrorist hideouts close to the Afghan border were destroyed in precision air strikes and synchronised ground operations,” the military said in a statement.
The army offensive took place in the mountainous terrain of Babar Kachkol, Naray Nao and Tor Sapar areas of Khyber.
Khyber is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts where the military has been fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants for over a decade.
Pakistan has been battling terrorism since 2004, following the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militants into its territory.
The army launched the ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ operation in June 2014 in a bid to wipe out militant bases in North Waziristan tribal area and so bring an end to the bloody insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives.
