Being a haven for terrorists, Pakistan itself is fighting against terrorism and has now started a campaign to eliminate terrorists. Security forces in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday killed five militants in an operation based on intelligence. During an intelligence-led operation in South Waziristan district, several terrorist hideouts linked to ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’ were targeted and destroyed, an official said.

In fact, the federal government of Pakistan uses the term ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’ for the banned terrorist organization Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). A large quantity of arms and ammunition have also been seized during the operation, the official said. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been in turmoil for the past several years due to terrorist violence, cross-border movement of fighters from Afghanistan and continuous military operations.

This elimination of terrorists is being seen as revenge. In fact, last week, a suicide bomb attack on a roadside police post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district killed more than a dozen security personnel and injured at least 30 others. Apart from this, around 21 people were killed when a car packed with explosives crashed into the entrance of a mosque in Kohat city. Both these attacks were related to TTP.

13 terrorists have been arrested in Pakistan’s Punjab province

Police in Pakistan’s Punjab province have arrested 13 suspected terrorists belonging to banned outfits during an intelligence operation conducted across the province over the past one week. A spokesperson of the ‘Counter Terrorism Department’ (CTD) said that 98 intelligence operations were conducted in Punjab during this period. “The suspects have links with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Al-Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist organisations,” the spokesman said.

Explosives and hand grenades have been recovered from the suspects

These suspected terrorists were arrested from Lahore, Sargodha, Gujarat, Pakpattan, Rawalpindi, Mandi Bahauddin, Faisalabad, Khushab, Chiniot and Khaniwal districts. The department also seized over 1.9 kg of explosives, 12 detonators, three Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), one hand grenade and banned literature from the arrested militants. The spokesperson said 13 cases have been registered against the suspects and investigation is on.