Two "terrorists" killed in Pakistan's North Waziristan

PAKISTHAN: At least two people, whom Pakistani officials termed as terrorists, were killed during an exchange of fire with security forces in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan area, Geo News reported. The Pakistani military media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement, said that on the night of August 14-15, the security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation after receiving the report regarding the presence of terrorists in North Waziristan’s Razmak area.

“During the conduct of the operation, security forces surrounded the terrorists’ location and after intense fire exchange, two terrorists were sent to hell,” it added. The ISPR said that they also recovered weapons and ammunition from the killed "terrorists", who remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces as well as extortion and target killing of innocent citizens. The ISPR said sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area, as per Geo News.

“Locals of the area appreciated the operation and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism,” the statement added. The operation comes days after army chief General Asim Munir said the recent surge in terrorism was a “futile effort” by terrorists to resume talks and warned them to submit to the “writ of state of Pakistan before they are decimated”.

According to the ISPR, the army chief issued the warning when he met the tribal elders and notables from the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The “interactive session” was held during the chief of army staff’s (COAS) visit to Peshawar.

“The surge in terrorism in recent past is a futile effort on the part of terrorists to get the talks re-initiated, however, there is no option for these terrorists except to submit to the writ of state of Pakistan before they are decimated, if they persist on their wrong path,” Gen Munir was quoted by the military’s media wing, reported Geo News. The army chief reiterated the resolve of the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC) and other law enforcement agencies in their fight against terrorism. “He [Gen Munir] showed resolve to finish peril of Narco which is becoming a lifeline for this TTP khawaraj,” said the ISPR.