12 militants killed in northwest Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – At least 12 suspected militants who were allegedly involved in a brazen attack on security forces in December last year were killed in an operation in northwest Pakistan, police said on Wednesday.

The "intelligence-based" operation, according to a police statement, took place late Tuesday night in the Lakki Marwat district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has long been a hotbed of militancy.

The deceased were members of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a conglomerate of several militant groups operating in Pakistan.

They were planning to "carry out an attack" in the nearby Tank district, according to the statement.

They were involved in the killing of six policemen in a brazen attack in Lakki Marwat in last December, the statement added.

Police also claimed to have recovered weapons and ammunition from "terrorists' possession."

Pakistan has seen a surge in terrorist attacks, following the Afghan Taliban's storming return to power in Kabul in August 2020.

On Jan 30, a suicide bombing at a mosque in a police compound in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killed over 100 people and injured 221 others.

The recent increase in terrorist attacks is the result of the collapse of a fragile cease-fire between Pakistani security forces and the TTP, which could last only a few months. Both sides blame each other for the cease-fire violation.