TTP commander killed in NW operation: ISPR

RAWALPINDI: The security forces killed a high-value terrorist and commander of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Saifullah, in an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) in Mir Ali, North Waziristan (NW).

Terrorist Saifullah was involved in the killing of four women of an NGO in February 2021 and the targeted killing of Frontier Works Organization (FWO) engineers in November 2020. He was also involved in the planning and execution of IED attacks on security forces, extortion and kidnapping for ransom. Security forces also recovered a huge cache of weapons and ammunition during the operation, the ISPR said in a statement on Monday.

Earlier, the Foreign Office said that Pakistan wanted the new Afghan set-up to ensure that TTP terrorists do not act from across the border. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a recent interview had also said that the Pakistan government would be open to pardoning the members of the banned TTP if they promise not to be involved in terrorist activities and follow Pakistan’s Constitution. He said that Pakistan was concerned about reports of TTP figures released from Afghan prisons. The minister, while referring to TTP, had said that Pakistan did not want these people to come and start creating chaos. “If the new Afghan set-up uses its influence and talks to the TTP and they submit to the writ of government and the Constitution of Pakistan, we are even open to giving them pardon.”