Eight terrorists were killed by security forces during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the IBO was conducted in the district’s Sararogha area based on the reported presence of terrorists.
“During the conduct of operation, intense fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists as a result of which eight terrorists were sent to hell.
“The killed terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well the innocent civilians. Arms, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from killed terrorists,” the ISPR said.
It added that a sanitisation operation was under way to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area as the security forces were “determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country”.
On Wednesday, two soldiers were martyred after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on a security forces’ convoy in the Razmak area of KP’s North Waziristan district.
On Tuesday, the ISPR had said that a soldier had embraced martyrdom in an IED blast in North Waziristan, while separate IBOs in Dera Ismail Khan and South Waziristan districts had left at least three militants dead.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government last year.
In September, data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the number of militant attacks in August was the highest tally for monthly strikes in almost nine years.
At least four people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday evening in a stampede at a university in southern India, local officials and media reported.
The stampede occurred at an outdoor auditorium in the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in southwest Kerala state, where a concert was planned.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Kerala state governor Arif Mohammed Khan said he was “deeply shocked and grieved to know about the sad demise of four students” at CUSAT.
“Heartfelt condolences to their families. Prayers for speedy recovery of injured,” he added.
State Health Minister Veena George said in a statement that four people were brought dead to the Kalamassery Medical College Hospital while four more were in critical condition, the PTI news agency reported, adding that over 60 people were injured.
A local police official said that a crowd outside the auditorium had rushed to seek cover from a sudden downpour when a number of people slipped on some stairs and were subsequently trampled, according to PTI.
One of the deadliest stampedes in recent history occurred a decade ago in India when at least 115 people were killed on the sidelines of a religious festival in central Madhya Pradesh state.
The top brass of the army resolved to completely support the caretaker government’s initiatives for “sustainable economic recovery and curbing illegal activities”, the military’s media wing said on Thursday.
According to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir presided over the 82nd Formation Commanders Conference (FCC) at the GHQ today.
The conference was attended by corps commanders, principal staff officers, and all formation commanders of the army, it said.
“The forum resolved to fully support the government’s initiatives in various domains for sustainable recovery of the economy and curbing illegal activities, including smuggling, hoarding, electricity theft, implementation of One Document Regime, dignified repatriation of illegal foreigners and safeguarding of national database, etc,” the press release reads.
The forum highlighted that “an increasing sense of stability, certainty and optimism” was witnessed across the country despite challenges.
“The forum […] resolved that vested efforts towards the engineering of despondency will be defeated through perseverance and continued positive actions, with the support of the people of Pakistan, InshaAllah.”
The statement also quoted the army chief as “expressing satisfaction over operational preparedness and high standards of training and morale maintained by formations to deal with the emerging threat paradigm”.
The ISPR said the participants were briefed on professional matters, national security challenges, and measures being undertaken to counter traditional and non-traditional security threats.
“The forum took a holistic view of the ongoing counter-terrorism operations and resolved that all terrorists, their facilitators, and abettors, working on the behest of hostile forces to destabilise Pakistan will be dealt with the full might of the state.”
The statement added that “the forum expressed unequivocal diplomatic, moral, and political support to the people of Palestine and reiterated Pakistan’s principled stance supporting the two-state solution, based on pre-1967 borders with Al Quds Al Sharif as the capital of Palestine.”
The participants also expressed concerns over the continued repression of Kashmiris in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, condemning the unabated human rights violations by Indian forces.
“The forum reaffirmed that Pakistan shall continue to support Kashmiris politically, diplomatically, and morally,” the ISPR said. “Participants stressed that the only solution to the issue lies in providing the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir according to relevant UNSC resolution.”
The ISPR concluded that the participants of the FCC affirmed that the army would continue defending and serving the nation in every possible way including the journey towards enduring stability and security.
