Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and local police personnel have killed five suspected terrorists during a jointly conducted operation (IBO) in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it emerged on Friday.
An official statement by the CTD described the slain individuals as Fitna-al-Khawarij, a term that the state uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban.
The statement on Friday detailed the previous night’s action, saying that a “targeted intelligence-based operation” was carried on the basis of “credible information about the presence of terrorists” in the Gulbahar area of Bannu, within the limits of Hawed Police Station.
The operation was carried out through “coordinated planning” to limit the movement of the terrorists in an effective manner, the statement said.
“During the operation, the terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on CTD’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and local police personnel,” it said, adding that the law enforcers retaliated in self-defence.
