Gen Sharif says TDPs to return to their homes by Mar 15
Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif visited the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar on Saturday where he was briefed on progress made in the ongoing Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber-1 operations, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asim Bajwa said on his Twitter account.
The army chief was also briefed on the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA. Gen Sharif said the operations would continue until militancy in the country is brought to an end. He also appreciated the progress made through intelligence-based operations. He added that the process of returning Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) to their homes would begin by the middle of March.
Operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched by the Pakistan Army last year, following a brazen militant attack on Karachi’s international airport and failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiators.
Nearly a million people have fled the offensive in North Waziristan, which is aimed at wiping out longstanding militant strongholds in the area, which borders Afghanistan.
The operation was further intensified after the brutal attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School on Dec 16 last year, which left more than 130 students dead.
Alongside Zarb-e-Azb, another military offensive was launched in Bara last year against banned militant groups in the region.
Given the code name ‘Khyber-1’, the operation began with air strikes against Lashkar-e-Islam hideouts in areas under the Mangal Bagh-led group’s control in Tirah and Bara, killing 21 militants and destroying their three key bases.
