10 'terrorists' killed in Mianwali operation

The Punjab police claimed to have killed 10 terrorists in mountainous area of Malla Khel in Mianwali after engaging in an intense gun battle.

A police spokesperson detailed that a team headed by DPO Mianwali Akhtar Farooq conducted an operation on reported presence of 10 to 15 terrorists.

During the raid, terrorists opened fire at the police team and in retaliation, 10 of them were killed by the police personnel.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since the Taliban government returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, mostly in the northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but also in southwestern Balochistan, which abuts Afghanistan and Iran.

Islamabad accuses Kabul's interim rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan.

Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee's recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism.