Daily Times

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Sunday claimed to have killed four terrorists in an operation in Bahawalpur.

The operation was conducted after the security force received intelligence reports. Three accomplices of the terrorists were reported to have escaped.

As per the CTD, the killed terrorists belonged to the banned Islamic State (IS) militant group. They were identified as Amanullah, Abdul Jabbar, Rehman Ali and Aleem.

The terrorists were planning to target a worship place of a minority community, said the security officials.

The CTD recovered hand grenades, SMG rifles and other weapons from their possession.

The officials stated that raids were being carried out for the arrests of the three who escaped, and further investigations were underway.

In April, Pakistan formally asked Afghanistan to hand Aslam Farooqi, leader of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the IS.

The demand was made by the Foreign Office with the Afghan ambassador.

On April 4, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security, announced that they had arrested Farooqi, whose real name is Abdullah Orakzai, in Kandahar province.

It was emphasised that Pakistan had been expressing its concerns over the activities of the group, which were clearly detrimental to the country.

The group took responsibility of a recent attack targeting a Sikh Gurdwara in Kabul, leaving scores dead.

The group has also been involved in several terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad has long suspected that the group enjoyed tacit support of the Afghan intelligence agency. It also accused the group of being a proxy of RAW.