Two terrorists killed as police foil attack on Mianwali patrolling post

At least two terrorists were killed and a policeman was martyred after a group of militants attacked a patrolling post in the Kundal area of Punjab’s Mianwali district, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar said Sunday.

The Punjab police chief said the gun battle between the law enforcers and the militants erupted after 10 to 12 terrorists attacked a police check post in the wee hours of Sunday.

At least two terrorists were killed by the firing of a policeman deployed on the roof of a nearby building while one policeman was martyred in the exchange of fire.

The terrorists attacked the police check post from two sides, the IGP said adding that the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) teams also participated in the operation.

The operation against the terrorists was carried out carefully as it got dark in the hilly area, the IGP said.

He said the police had information about the terrorist attack and added that foreign elements were involved in the recent wave of terrorist attacks in the country.

“Everyone knows the motives behind terrorism,” IG Anwar said adding that the terrorists will be identified in the next two to four hours.

Meanwhile, a CTD spokesperson in a statement said as many as two terrorists were killed during the search operation that was launched to apprehend the remaining terrorists.

The entire area has been cordoned off, the spokesperson added.

The slain terrorists were later identified as Zubair Nawaz and Muhammad Khan – the operatives of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the CTD said in a follow-up statement issued later in the day.

They said Zubair and Khan were members of TTP’s Tipu group and the former was the brother of TTP Lakki Marwat district chief Ameer Arshad Nawaz.

Zubair was wanted in Punjab for sectarian killings, extortion and other serious offences.

The two terrorists were identified with the help of intelligence agencies and latest technology, the CTD said.

For the past year now, Pakistan has been gripped by a spate of terror attacks, with Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa particularly being under the radar of militants targeting security forces and civilians to deteriorate peace.

On Friday, two separate suicide bombings in Balochistan's Mastung and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Hangu left several people dead and many others injured.

Earlier this month, a report compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) stated a sharp increase recorded in militant attacks across the country in August with 99 terror incidents reported.

This, according to the report, was the highest number recorded in any single month since November 2014. These attacks have resulted in 112 deaths and 87 injuries, mostly targeting security forces personnel and civilians.

Security forces, however, continue to conduct operations against terrorists to eliminate militancy from the country.