ISLAMABAD - The army has achieved significant achievements in the Zarb-e-Azb offensive launched on June 15 last year against terrorists in North Waziristan by dismantling their communication infrastructure and hideouts.
This was stated by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj-Gen Asim Bajwa in a series of tweets posted on Saturday. He said 347 officers and soldiers embraced martyrdom in the Zarb-e-Azb operation against terrorists and their sanctuaries.
Sharing details of the gains of the military against terrorists during the operations that will complete its one year on Monday, Bajwa said 2,763 terrorists had so far been killed and their 837 hideouts destroyed.
He said thousands of terrorists were apprehended and their abettors killed in over 9,000 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) while 218 hardcore terrorists had been killed in Zarb-e-Azb in various cities.
Bajwa added 18,087 weapons, including heavy machine guns (HMG), light machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and AK-47 assault rifles, had been seized in terrorist hideouts in North Waziristan Agency.
The ISPR, the media wing of Pakistan Army, averred the operation will continue to make Pakistan a terror-free country, adding some of the effects of the ongoing offensive against terrorism included improved environment, visit of the Chinese president and other dignitaries, Pakistan-Zimbabwe cricket series and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
“The whole nation came together to totally eliminate terrorism from Pakistan while the media and civil society are playing a positive role in end the menace,” Bajwa said in a tweet. He added the army gained significant achievements in Fata, NWA and Khyber Agency by destroying strongholds, communication infrastructure and sanctuaries of terrorists.
Bajwa, however, made it clear that the battle against terrorism cannot be won by the armed forces alone, expressing his encouragement to see the entire nation pursuing this national effort with great sense of purpose.
The military operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched in North Waziristan on June 15 in the wake of the terrorists attack on Jinnah International Airport Karachi at a time when the government was in process of peace talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
It is to be mentioned here that Zarb-e-Azb is the ninth major military offensive against Taliban, Al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters.
In 2002, the then military dictator and former president Pervez Musharraf launched operation Al-Mizan against terrorists by sending over 70,000 troops to the country’s tribal areas. Since then the military started several major operations against terrorists like Operation Raah-e-Haq, Zalzala, Operation Black Thunderstorm, Operation Raah-e-Raast, Operation Sher Dil, Operation Raah-e-Nijat, Operation Koh-e-Safaid and the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
Earlier, on Saturday, the ISPR said over 20 terrorists were killed in aerial strikes in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan.
“Ready to pay any price to protect our nationhood, safeguard interests, be it Kashmir, development of new ports or exploration of natural resources,” the ISPR DG said, adding China-Pakistan Economic Corridor holds enormous potential for transforming lives of the people of the region.
Referring to the multi-billion dollar CPEC project, Bajwa said Pak Army was acutely aware of the enemies’ campaigns against the project and vowed to defeat their designs.