At least four members of the same family were martyred and some others injured after a mortar shell fired from across the border struck a house in the Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur on Sunday.
According to locals and police, the mortar shell was allegedly fired from the Afghanistan side and landed directly on the house owned by Tahir in the Tari Pasha area of Salarzai.
Residents said the shell hit a civilian home, killing four people on the spot. Police confirmed that the deceased were members of Tahir’s household and initial reports suggest that the four victims were brothers.
Some other people injured in the incident were immediately shifted to a nearby hospital, where they are receiving medical treatment.
An atmosphere of mourning followed the tragic incident in the area where residents expressed deep anger and demanded immediate action from the authorities to ensure the safety of civilians.
Separately, a major counter-terrorism operation was carried out in the jurisdiction of Laachi Police Station, Kohat, where six terrorists were killed during an exchange of fire with law enforcement agencies.
According to District Police Officer (DPO) Kohat, Shehbaz Elahi, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Kohat Police launched a joint search and strike operation after receiving credible intelligence about the presence of terrorists in different areas of Laachi. The suspects were reportedly planning a major attack.
As the security forces cordoned off the area, the terrorists opened fire. The CTD and police personnel retaliated effectively, resulting in the killing of six terrorists. Weapons were also recovered from their possession.
Meanwhile, security forces killed five terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat on Sunday, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The military’s media affairs wing said in a statement that the IBO was conducted on the reported presence of “khawarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khawarij”.
“During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location, and after an intense fire exchange, five khawarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR statement said. Weapons and ammunition were found in the possession of slain “India- sponsored khawarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area”, it added.
“Sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any other India-sponsored kharji found in the area, as the relentless counter-terrorism campaign under the vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’ (as approved by the federal apex committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” the statement read.