- 10 terrorists killed in major ground offensive in Khyber Agency
- IED blast in Bajaur kills three FC personnel
Pakistan Army troops Thursday killed at least 10 terrorists in a ground operation as part of a major counteroffensive against Taliban insurgents in the northwestern tribal borderlands.
The strikes came as ground troops exchanged fire with terrorists in Khyber Agency, which is riddled with the lairs of Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam fighters.
“At least 10 militants were killed, two wounded, while six managed to make their getaway,” Inter-Services Public Relations said.
The ISPR further said the skirmish also left two security personnel injured, adding the forces were hot on the trail of fleeing insurgents.
Earlier, a roadside bomb Thursday killed three paramilitary soldiers in the country’s restive northwest.
“Three paramilitary soldiers were killed when they walked over an IED (impoverished explosive device) planted on a road side in Damadola area of Bajaur tribal district (around 125 miles northwest of Peshawar),” local official Suhail Khan said.
He said the paramilitary soldiers were returning back to their camp after a routine patrol when they stumbled over the explosive device.
On Tuesday, a team of Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar, slaughtering 148 people, including 132 children, in the country’s deadliest ever terror attack.
The Taliban said the assault was revenge for the killing of its fighters and their families in an ongoing military operation against its hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal area, and warned more attacks would follow.
Pakistan has been battling Islamist groups in its semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004, after its army entered the region to search for al Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
