PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD    -   The life in Baunnu re­turned to normalcy yes­terday as siege of the CTD Centre in Bannu district came to an end after the Pakistan army commandoes complet­ed the operation.

Three security person­nel were martyred and another 27 were wound­ed in the operation which lasted for two days while the siege of militants remained for around four days. The comman­do operation started at around 1pm on Tuesday and it conclud­ed on Wednesday.

Cellular phone and internet services were restored on the fourth day in Bannu. The siege began when TTP militants took officials hostage at the Count­er-Terrorism Department facil­ity by snatching the guns from the cops on duty. The situation prompted the security forces to conduct an operation to clear the facility and neutralise the insurgents.

During the standoff, govern­ment offices, educational insti­tutions, and bazaars were all closed for several days. To break the stalemate, talks were held with the insurgents who were holding CTD officials hostage.

Earlier, the district govern­ment declared a state of emer­gency at Bannu’s hospitals to prepare for any eventuality. In addition, the government had barricaded all routes leading to the Bannu cantonment. Accord­ing to reports, 25 militants were shot dead during the operation inside the centre while 11 oth­ers surrendered to the security forces.

Major Abid, who is said to have earlier led an operation at the Army Public School in Pe­shawar, led the operation at the Bannu centre too. The business activities remained suspended while there was a tense calm in the area during the last several days. Meanwhile, a tense calm prevails in various parts of the province while the law enforce­ment machinery has been kept on its toes.

The police force has been placed on high alert across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa follow­ing a spate of attacks on po­lice stations and posts in sev­eral districts of the province in recent days. In Peshawar too, a security post was attacked within the boundaries of the Sarband Police Station ear­ly on Wednesday. However, no fatality was recorded in the in­cident. Following the attack, police went to the scene and launched a search operation in the surrounding area.

Police have been placed on high alert following big attacks in Lakki Marwat and Wana in South Waziristan, as well as an incident at the Counter-Terror­ism Department office in Bannu.

Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister She­hbaz Sharif have commend­ed the security forces for carry­ing out the successful operation against terrorists in Bannu and expressed their strong resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country. In his separate state­ment, the president termed the success a result of the profes­sionalism of security forces and their unwavering commitment against terrorism.

He said the nation would al­ways remember the sacrifices made against terrorism for na­tional defence and security.

President Alvi paid tribute to the officials of the armed forces who were martyred during the operation.

He prayed for the speedy re­covery of the injured officials.

The prime minister said the State would not surrender to any terrorist group or organi­zation and vowed that militants would be dealt with according to the constitution and law.

Strongly condemning the ac­tivities of terrorists in Bannu and other areas, he said such attempts aimed at spread­ing chaos in Pakistan would be crushed.

PM Sharif termed terrorism a crucial issue of national secu­rity, which required collective thinking and a plan of action.

The entire nation, he said, would eradicate terrorism side by side with the country’s brave armed forces. The prime min­ister paid tribute to the valour and determination of the coun­try’s armed forces fighting against terrorism.

He prayed for the speedy re­covery of the injured and direct­ed the authorities concerned to provide them best treatment facilities. Shehbaz Sharif said, “We will not let the sacrific­es of the martyrs go to waste” and mentioned in this regard the military operations of Rad-ul-Fasaad and Zarb-e-Azb as significant measures to eradi­cate terrorism.

He said the great sacrifices of the personnel of armed forces, police, Rangers and other law enforcement agencies were un­forgettable.

The prime minister said though main responsibility for law and order lies with the provinces, but the federation could not turn a blind eye to the problems.

He assured the provinces to work along with them in fight­ing terrorism and vowed to fully implement the National Action Plan to eliminate terrorism. He emphasized enhancing the ca­pacity and efficiency of the pro­vincial governments as crucial in this regard.

Shehbaz said the federal gov­ernment would assist the prov­inces in improving the profes­sional capacity of anti-terrorism force and departments.

He said restructuring of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s count­er-terrorism department would be carried out and all the re­quirements pertaining to mod­ern weapons and professional training would be ensured