Gulf Today

Two TTP commanders killed in operation

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PESHAWAR: Police killed two commanders from a militant group in the country’s northwest, a local officer said on Saturday.

Pakistan has increased its operations against militants ater a surge in violence by the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, particular­ly in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhw­a province.

The TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November, ordering its fighters to carry out atacks across the country.

Regional police officer Muhammad Ali Gandapur said the slain TTP fighters were wanted in connection with the killing of five police officers and were also involved in atacks on security checkpoint­s. The government had a bounty of $7,259 on the two men.

Police arrested four fighters and recovered gunpowder, hand grenades, electronic detonators and Kalashniko­v rifles in the same intelligen­ce operation in Hund village, Swabi district.

Meanwhile, officials said that Islamabad will ask the supreme leader of Afghanista­n’s Taliban to rein in militants in Pakistan ater a suicide bombing killed scores of police in a mosque.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in attacks in regions bordering Afghanista­n, where militants use rugged terrain to stage assaults and escape detection.

Detectives have blamed an affiliate of the Pakistani Taliban — the most notorious militant oufit in the area — for the Monday blast in Peshawar.

The Pakistani Taliban share common lineage and ideals with the Afghan Taliban, led by Hibatullah Akhundzada who issues edicts from his hideaway in the southern city of Kandahar.

Special assistant to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Faisal Karim Kundi, said delegation­s would be sent to Tehran and Kabul to “ask them to ensure that their soil is not used by terrorists against Pakistan.”

A senior police official in the Khyber Pakhtunkhw­a

province where Monday’s blast took place told reporters the Kabul delegation would hold “talks with the top brass.”

“When we say top brass, it means... Afghan Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada,” he said on condition of anonymity.

The TTP — formed in 2007 by Pakistani militants who splintered off from the Afghan Taliban — once held sway over swathes of northwest Pakistan but were routed by an army offensive ater 2014.

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Awami National Party members take part in a rally denouncing militant attacks in Peshawar on Saturday.
Associated Press ↑ Awami National Party members take part in a rally denouncing militant attacks in Peshawar on Saturday.

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