NORTH WAZIRISTAN - The army on Saturday declared that North Waziristan Agency has been cleared of Haqqani network and East Turkestan Islamic Movement fighters.
Zarb-e-Azb Operation Commander Major General Zafarullah Khan Khattak said that 90 percent of the area has been recovered from terrorists by the Army.
He said that commanders of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant organisation working against China, have also been killed and the network destroyed in the operation in North Waziristan.
Khattak expressed these views on Saturday while talking to the media men about Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
The areas that have been recovered include Mirali, Datta Khel, Miranshah, Boya, Spin Wam and Ghulam Khan.
He said that the search and clearance of the mines and ammunition would take some time. He also said that the operation has completed 138 days and that a large number of terrorists have been killed during the operation.
Khattak said that around 2.2 million ammunition and as many as 10,000 weapons of various kind have been recovered from the area.
He said that the seized weaponry includes around 2,470 submachine guns (SMGs) and 273 machine guns. He said that as many as 39 mines manufacturing factories have been destroyed.
He also said that around 23,000 kilograms of explosive has been recovered from Mirali and 78,000 kgs of that from Miranshah.
According to Khattak, as many as 1,198 terrorists have been killed and 356 injured whereas 221 terrorists have been arrested during the operation.
He said that Mirali was considered as the centre of extremists and that it was home to a large number of foreign extremists.
He said that factories which produced mines were also established in Mirali just like in Miranshah.
He said that special attention was paid to the Uzbek terrorists in Mirali. The operation commander further said that as many as 24 army officers have lost their lives while 155 have been injured during the operation.