DNA
SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Security sources said on Tuesday that a clearance operation to eliminate three terrorists was underway at the Cadet College Wana in South Waziristan on Tuesday, a day after the education facility came under attack.
An operation was underway to eliminate three khwarij present inside the Cadet College, security sources said, adding that it was being reported that all of them hailed from Afghanistan.
Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while khwarij refers to terrorists associated with it.
The security operation will continue till the eradication of the last terrorist, security sources asserted.
They added that the terrorists were hidden in a building that was located far away from the cadets’ residence. They asserted that the clearance operation was being carried out with great expertise to ensure that the cadets’ lives remained safe and they were not harmed.
The security source said the terrorists were “continuously taking directives from Afghanistan on the telephone”.
Security forces had killed two terrorists yesterday after attackers rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the college’s main gate, causing it to collapse and damaging an adjacent structure.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had said yesterday that the terrorists inside the college were in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan and “are getting instructions“.
“This blatant act of barbarism orchestrated by khwarij from Afghanistan is in contrast to assertions made by the Afghan Taliban Regime claiming non-presence of these terrorist groups on their soil,“ the ISPR had said.
Hailing yesterday’s response by the military, a security source noted, “The Pakistan Army’s soldiers sent two khwarij to hell by taking immediate and courageous action.”
“Terrorists attacking innocent tribal children have no connection with Islam or the prosperity of Pakistan’s people,” they asserted.
It had further said, “These khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij have once again tried to repeat the barbaric act of terrorism carried out by them in Army Public School Peshawar in 2014.“
On Dec 16, 2014, Pakistan lived through one of its most horrific chapters. The attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar and the operation to clear out the terrorists unfolded in less than 10 hours, during which 147 people, including 132 schoolchildren, were martyred.
The military maintained that the latest attack aimed to instil fear among the youth of the tribal areas, “who are acquiring quality education at their doorstep to excel in life and achieve a better future for not only themselves and their families but also for their communities“.
Earlier on Monday, security forces killed 20 terrorists in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBO) in KP — eight in North Waziristan and 12 in the Dara Adam Khel district. Another four were eliminated in Balochistan’s Kalat.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in the past year, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022 and vowed to attack security forces, police, and law enforcement agencies’ personnel.
