PESHAWAR: At least 10 militants have been killed in a gun battle in a relatively peaceful Swabi district, just northwest of the capital Islamabad, officials said Wednesday.
The shootout comes after a recent resurgence in militant violence, with 130 people killed nationwide in the month of February, ending a lull in Pakistan’s long battle against terrorists.
The two raids took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district, which is just 100 kilometres northwest Islamabad and far from the border tribal areas that have been the main battlefront over the course of the insurgency.
Soldiers on Tuesday conducted a raid on a village in the district, triggering a gunfight.
“During exchange of fire Capt Junaid and Sepoy Amjad embraced martyrdom,” said a military statement, adding: “Five terrorists [were] killed during the operation.”
Security forces stormed a second compound in a nearby village on Wednesday, killing 10 militants, a senior security official told AFP.
The bodies of militants were recovered from Pehur High Level Canal at Baja village. District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Shoaib said the militants were planning to stage attacks in Swabi, but the security forces foiled their nefarious designs.
He said the bodies were taken to the Bacha Khan Hospital Complex for autopsies. According to Online news agency, three of their accomplices fled. The security forces also destroyed hideouts of terrorists during the search operation. They also recovered hate literature and modern weapon from hideouts.
Separately, the military said that five Taliban militants who had been sentenced to death were executed on Wednesday at a prison in northwestern garrison town of Kohat.
The terrorists, all of them being active members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were executed in Kohat District Jail.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the militants, tried by military courts, confessed to their crimes.
Shoukat Ali, son of Abdul Jabbar, was involved in attacking law enforcement agencies and armed forces, which resulted in death and injuries to soldiers. He was tried on five charges and awarded death sentence.
Imdadullah, son of Abdul Wajid, was involved in destruction of an educational institution in Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and attacking LEAs, which resulted in death and injuries to soldiers. He was tried on five charges and awarded death sentence.
Sabir Shah, son of Syed Ahmed Shah, was involved in attacking armed forces, which resulted in death of soldiers. He was tried on three charges and awarded death sentence.
Khandan, son of Dost Muhammad Khan, was also involved in attacking armed forces, which resulted in death and injuries to soldiers. He was also tried on three charges and awarded death sentence.
Anwar Ali, son of Fazal Ghani attacked armed forces, which resulted in death and injuries to soldiers. He was tried on three charges and awarded death sentence.
Pakistan created special military courts by constitutional amendment after the country’s deadliest-ever extremist attack in 2014.
The assault on a school in northwestern Peshawar, in which gunmen killed more than 150 people – mostly children – traumatised the country already grimly accustomed to atrocities. The law allowing secret military courts to try civilians on terror charges expired in January, after the controversial tribunals hanged 12 people and ordered the executions of 149 more amid sharp criticism from rights groups. The government is mulling resuming military courts after a fresh constitutional amendment.
Pakistan’s military announced the launch of a nationwide anti-terrorist operation in the wake of the violence last month.
The attacks, most of which were claimed by the Islamic State group or the Pakistani Taliban, dented optimism after the country appeared to be making strong gains in its decade-and-a-half long war on militancy.