ISLAMABAD - The combing and mopping up operation against terrorists and suspects having links with terror activities continued across the country as over 200 search operations in various cities of the country have been conducted.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Punjab Rangers conducted over 200 search operations in various areas, including Karor, Layyah, and Rawalpindi.
During the operations, suspected houses, Madrassas and shops were searched. It said four terrorists were killed in exchange of fire while over 600 suspects, including few Afghan nationals, have been apprehended. Jihadi material and weapons have been recovered and few facilitators of Jamaatul Akhrar also arrested.
The army had launched operation ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad for complete elimination of residual and latent threat of terrorism. It is termed last phase of the armed action by country’s security forces against terrorists, which has been going on for over a decade.
After the launch, the ISPR said in a statement that the aim of the operation is to consolidate gains of earlier military operations like Zarb-e-Azb, Rah-e-Raast and Rah-e-Najaat. The announcement of the nationwide anti-terror operation came after Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa chaired a high-level security meeting in Lahore.
Meanwhile, police yesterday foiled a major terror bid and recovered 80kg explosives during an operation in the Bagh area of Azad Kashmir.
The security officials also arrested five terrorists belonging to Afghanistan and shifted them to some unknown place for interrogation. Bagh SP Kamran Ali said the detainees were living in a rented house.
Separately, a bomb disposal squad defused 4kg explosive material and also recovered two bombs at Taimour Shah Market in Hangu.
The security personnel killed a commander of alleged militant group and arrested six suspects in a search operation in Blangoor area of Turbat district. The operation was carried out on a tip-off. He said the suspects opened fire at the security forces that retaliated and killed a militant commander, Mullah Rafiq alias Duda, besides apprehending six others.
Meanwhile, in a major achievement in the ongoing anti-terror raids across the country, the security forces arrested two truck drivers for allegedly smuggling explosives into Pakistan under the garb of Afghan transit trade.
The law-enforcement personnel took action on a tip-off from intelligence agencies and rounded up two truck drivers, identified as Sakhi Badshah and Rasool Nawaz, during a raid in the Sona Chowk area of Sadiqabad city.
According to sources, both the miscreants, belonging to Wana town of South Waziristan Agency, have close links with terrorist groups.
The Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement is a bilateral agreement between the two countries. The treaty, signed in 1950, gave Afghanistan the right to import duty-free goods through Karachi. It allows Afghanistan access to the dry port of Lahore and to a land route up to the Wagah border with India.
Security sources termed Sakhi Badshah and Rasool Nawaz’s arrest a major achievement in the war on terrorism. Both have been moved to some undisclosed location for interrogation.
252 AFGHANS HANDED OVER TO KABUL
In a related move, at least 252 Afghan nationals were handed over to Afghan security forces through Torkham border in Khyber Agency as a goodwill gesture hon Saturday.
According to security forces, Pak-Afghan border points at Chaman, Khyber Agency and Kurram Agency were closed nine days ago due to security concerns after a series of terrorist attacks in the country.
As many as 252 Afghan nationals including children and women who had overstayed in Pakistan due to closure of border and were living on footpaths for one week were handed over to the Afghan authorities.
AFGHANISTAN URGES PAKISTAN
‘NOT TO POLITICISE’ REFUGEES
Monitoring Desk adds: Two weeks after Afghan-based militants were blamed for attacks in Pakistan which claimed over 100 lives, Afghan authorities Saturday asked Islamabad to keep politics out of the refugee issue.
The Afghan Ministry of Repatriation and Refugees made the plea after thanking Pakistan for its longstanding hospitality towards refugees and extending their stay till the end of 2017.
In a statement in Kabul, the ministry acknowledged that Pakistan has been hosting millions of Afghans for decades, and that up to 1.3 million registered Afghan refugees and 60,000 other undocumented Afghans are still living there.
“Reports received by the Afghan Ministry of Repatriation and Refugees suggest Pakistani citizens as well as a number of Afghan refugees have been persecuted and forcefully deported by Pakistani security forces after the latest terrorist attacks,” it said.
Torkham and Chaman – the two main crossing points between the two countries, frequented by thousands of crossers – remained closed for a ninth day on Saturday. Regular commuters at these crossing points, particularly those in Pakistan for short medical visits or social engagements as well as businesspeople, are bearing the brunt of the closure’s impact.
Khan Jan Alakozoy, former head of the Pakistan and Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PAJCCI), told Anadolu Agency that the closure is costing tradesmen from both countries about $4 million a day.