RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s military said it killed four Khawarij militants attempting to infiltrate from Afghanistan into Bajaur District, including a high-value target identified as Kharji Qari Amjad.
Khariji Amjad, also known as Mazahim, the deputy leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an Indian proxy group referred as Fitna al Khawarij.
According to the statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Thursday, the movement of the militants was detected on the night between October 29 and 30. Troops engaged the infiltrators with “precise and skillful fire,” preventing their entry into Pakistan.
Amjad, a senior commander and deputy to Kharji Noor Wali, headed the group’s Rehbari Shura. He was wanted by Pakistani authorities for orchestrating multiple terrorist attacks across the country while operating from Afghanistan. The government had announced a bounty of PKR 5 million for his capture.
ISPR said the killing of Amjad marks a major success in Pakistan’s ongoing counterterrorism campaign. It added that the leadership of Fitna al Khawarij, based in Afghanistan, has been directing infiltration attempts into Pakistan to project an illusion of domestic presence and boost the morale of remaining militants in Bajaur and Mohmand.
“The Interim Afghan Government must take concrete measures to ensure that Afghan soil is not used by terrorist proxies to conduct attacks against Pakistan,” the statement said.
ISPR reiterated Pakistan’s stance that Afghan territory continues to serve as a safe haven for militants belonging to Fitna al Khawarij.
A follow-up sanitization operation is under way in the area to eliminate any remaining militants. The military reaffirmed that counterterrorism operations under the “Azm-e-Istehkam” initiative, approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, will continue “at full pace” until the country is cleared of foreign-sponsored terrorism.
Earlier today, the ISPR said in a statement that security forces killed at least 18 militants linked to an India-backed Fitna al-Hindustan during two counterterrorism operations in Balochistan.
In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said troops conducted intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in the Chiltan mountain range of Quetta district and in Buleda, Kech district.
