PESHAWAR: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Tuesday claimed to have killed at least eight terrorists who were involved in attacks on Customs officials in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The dead terrorists, according to the statement, were also involved in extortion and attacks on security forces as well as target killing.
One of the most-wanted terrorists, Jahanzaib, was also among those killed in the operation conducted on Monday in the KP district, the CTD said in a statement.
They were, the agency added, present in the district with plans to cause sabotage.
“The escape routes of the terrorists were blocked,” the CTD said, adding that there is a fear of the presence of facilitators of terrorists in the local population.
“Strict action is also being taken against the facilitators, the agency added.
Two officials of Customs were gunned down on last weekend, in an attack near York Toll Plaza in DI Khan, while four others sustained injuries in the gun attack.
This attack came just days after a previous one on April 18, during which six people, including five customs officials, were killed in a firing incident on the Sago Road in Daraban tehsil of the district.
The statistics of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Tribal Affairs KP has shown that the areas most affected by terrorism are Peshawar, Khyber, Bajaur, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
According to the key findings of the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) Q1 2024 Security Report, KP and Balochistan provinces are responsible for more than 92% of all fatalities and 86% of attacks in the country, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations .
Individually, KP suffered 51% and Balochistan 41% of all fatalities in the first quarter of 2024. The data shows that the remaining regions were relatively peaceful, with less than 8% of all fatalities.
