Four terrorists, three captives killed in attack on CTD squad in North Waziristan

PESHAWAR: Three under-custody suspects were killed in an armed militant attack on a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) squad in North Waziristan, while four terrorists were gunned down in retaliation, the law enforcement agency said on Tuesday.

The CTD said that the squad transporting three captives from Miranshah to Bannu were attacked by the militants near Mir Ali Bypass. They said that the assailants wanted to liberate their accomplices.

All three suspects were killed as a result of firing by the assailants, of whom four were shot down, while the rest escaped, taking advantage of the dark, the security agency said.

The CTD further stated that the eliminated terrorists were involved in grenade attacks on security forces and police as well as targeted killings, specifically the attack on the Cantt Police Station and martyring of constable Iftikhar. They said that four sub-machine guns, cartridges and other ammunition were recovered from the dead.

After the attack, the security forces and heavy police parties launched a search operation in the area to track down the terrorists who fled, the CTD added.

Insurgency is rearing its head as terrorist attacks across Pakistan have increased lately — especially in the northern and north-western parts of the country — since the end of the ceasefire by outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) last year.

However, the government and other stakeholders are holding consultations on how to deal with the daunting challenge of terrorism. 

ASI among eight hurt in militants attack in North Waziristan

In one of the recent militant attacks, eight people were injured when armed assailants attacked the house of a police official in the Dandey Saidgi area of North Waziristan earlier in the week. 

The local and official sources said the incident had taken place in the limits of Ghulam Khan Police Station. Those injured in the attack included ASI Ameenullah, two women and five others. 

The assailants had escaped after the attack, while the injured persons had been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Miranshah.

Earlier, a terrorist bid to attack a police station in Lakki Marwat had been thwarted by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police. 

Police had repulsed the attack by terrorists on a police post in southern district after the observing movement of militants through thermal imaging, night vision cameras installed by the police in remote areas.