Peshawar, Feb 11 (PTI) Five terrorists affiliated with the banned TTP outfit were shot dead by security officials in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on Tuesday.
The joint operation was conducted late Monday night by the police and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Mir Kalam Banda in Karak district following intelligence reports about the presence of wanted terrorists in the area. The slain militants were identified as members of the Kakeemullah Group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
According to police, nine to 10 terrorists managed to escape during the intense gunfight that led to the killing of five militants.
The five terrorists killed were wanted for multiple attacks, including an assault on the CTD Kohat team, an attack on a polio vaccination team, and assaults on the Bahadur Khel police post, Laachi toll plaza, an FC fort, and several bank robberies.
The operation was carried out after a local jirga (tribal council) had given all armed groups a three-day ultimatum to leave the area.
The police have seized arms and ammunition from the possession of the terrorists killed in the operation.
Security forces recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from the slain terrorists. Following the operation, Kohat district police and CTD launched a joint search and clearance mission to track down the remaining fugitives.
Pakistan has recently witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the TTP broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the Pakistan government and ordered its militants to stage countrywide attacks.
The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban and is also known as the Pakistan Taliban, was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007.