Border incursion attempt foiled in Mohmand, over 45 eliminated

ISLAMABAD: At least 45 terrorists belonging to Fitna al-Khawarij — the term used for outlawed groups like TTP — were killed in Mohamad, a border district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, security sources said on Thursday, as the terrorists made an border incursion attempt to cross into Pakistan.

It means the number of the Khawarij killed in latest operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was at least 80.

The security sources said the Afghanistan-based terrorists were trying take advantage of the 48-hour ceasefire reached between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan on the request of the former after successful precision strikes on Kabul and Kandahar.

It was an intelligence-based operation, they said and added that a large of the Khawarij had also been injured.

And clearance operation was underway in the area and the number of killed Khawarij might rise, the security sources added.

Earlier, the Taliban regime was forced to seek a temporary ceasefire with effect from 6pm on Tuesday after Pakistan responded swiftly to the latest attacks along the Pak-Afghan border.

In the process, Pakistan key targets in Kabul and Kandahar as well as other losses inflicted upon the Afghan Taliban and the terrorist groups they are housing in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, it was an attack Tuesday’s attack on Kurram that triggered the latest swift response from Pakistan.

OPERATIONS ACROSS KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

However, the military operation wasn’t just limited to Mohmand as the ISPR earlier on Tuesday confirmed that security forces had executed at least Khawarij in separate engagements in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

These operations were conducted in South Waziristan, North Waziristan and Bannu district — the worst affected region after terrorism returned to Pakistan as a result of the then PTI government to allow the TTP terrorists to resettle in Pakistan after the Kabul takeover in August 2021.

Read more: Having the cup of tea in Kabul proved to be very costly: Dar

On Wednesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday said war with the Afghan Taliban regime had started and questioned how Pakistan could hold discussions or dialogue with them, as he opined that the temporary ceasefire reached between two sides earlier in the day won’t last long.

Read more: Afghan Taliban: Khawaja Asif doesn’t see any room for talks

At the same time, the senior politician made it clear that “Afghanistan can be treated a neighbour, [but it] cannot be declared a brother,” and also recalled that it was Afghanistan which carried out the first attack on Pakistan — a reference to the failed attempt to occupy the Bajaur region in 1960.

“How can we shake hands with those whose hands are stained with the blood of our martyrs,” he questioned and added that there was not a single terrorist organisation [TTP, ETIM, Al Qaeda, Daesh and others] in the world which didn’t have presence in Afghanistan.