KHYBER AGENCY: The security forces have killed at least 15 militants and injured more than a dozen during air strikes carried out in different areas of Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency.
Official sources said that fighter jets pounded sanctuaries of suspected militants in Sattar Killay, Kharaiba and Rajgal – the remote areas of Koki Khel in Tirah Valley – inflicting huge losses on the militants.
During the operation, five militant strongholds were destroyed, the forces claimed. However, they said that the exact number of casualties could not be confirmed due to lack of proper communication facilities in the far-flung areas of Tirah Valley.
Meanwhile, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said the operation was launched “to reinforce troop deployment in Rajgal Valley to effectively check and guard against” movement across the porous border in Khyber Agency. The operation targets “movement on high mountains and all-weather passes in Khyber Agency”, the statement said. After security forces’ operations in Khyber Agency, most of the militants, including those affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and erstwhile Bara-based defunct Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), had fled and reportedly taken refuge in Tirah.
Local sources said that Rajgal shared a border with Nazyan district of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, where LI chief Mangal Bagh had established his base camp and allegedly ran an illegal FM radio station. Last week, the forces launched a full-fledged cleanup operation under Khyber-3 in the area to wipe out militancy once and for all.
