Thirty terrorists involved in the Orakzai incident earlier this week – during which 11 security personnel, including two officers, were martyred – were killed in a “retribution operation”, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday.
The incident in Orakzai took place on Tuesday night when security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Orakzai district on the reported presence of “Indian proxy Fitna Al Khawarij”.
In the Tuesday operation, 19 “India-sponsored” terrorists were killed, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that 11 security personnel, including two officers, had also embraced martyrdom during the exchange of fire.
In a statement issued on Friday, the ISPR said, “Security forces have been conducting a series of retribution operations against the kharijis involved in [the] heinous incident that occurred in Orakzai District on October 7, resulting in the shahadat of brave sons of soil, including Lieutenant Colonel Junaid Tariq and Major Tayyab Rahat.”
It added that during an operation in the Jamal Maya area of Orakzai, conducted on the basis of credible intelligence, “all 30 India-sponsored khwarij involved in the terrorist incident have been sent to hell” after an intense exchange of fire.
“These successful operations have avenged the heinous act and have brought the main perpetrators to justice,” the statement read.
It said sanitisaton operations were under way to “hunt and eliminate any other India-sponsored khariji found in the area, as the security forces of Pakistan are determined and remain steadfast to eradicate and wipe out the menace of India-sponsored terrorism from the country”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that security personnel were engaged in “safeguarding the motherland against the enemy by risking their lives”.
President Asif Ali Zardari, in a statement on the PPP’s X account, lauded the security forces’ “courageous” operation against “India-sponsored terrorists”.
Separately, at least three terrorists, including a suicide bomber, were killed by retaliatory fire on Friday night during an attack on the police training centre located in KP’s DI Khan.
Earlier, there were reports of a blast in the area.