8 terrorists involved in attacks on Customs officials killed: CTD

PESHAWAR: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Tuesday claimed to have killed at least eight terrorists who were involved in attacks on Customs officials in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

One of the most-wanted terrorists, Jahanzaib, was also among those killed in the operation conducted on Monday in the KP district, the CTD said in a statement. The terrorists, according to the statement, were also involved in extortion and attacks on security forces as well as targeted killing. The terrorists were planning sabotage, it added.

“The escape routes of the terrorists were blocked,” the CTD said, adding that there was a fear of the presence of facilitators of terrorists in the local population. “Strict action is also being taken against the facilitators,” the agency maintained. Last weekend, two officials of Customs were gunned down in an attack near the York Toll Plaza in DI Khan, while four others sustained injuries in the gun attack. The attack came just days after a previous one on April 18, during which six people, including five customs officials, were killed in a firing incident on the Sago Road in Daraban tehsil of the district.

According to the statistics issued by the Department of Interior and Tribal Affairs KP, the areas most affected by terrorism include Peshawar, Khyber, Bajaur, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.