Four terrorists killed as CTD squad came under attack in North Waziristan: spokesperson

• CTD squad was transporting detainees from Miranshah to Bannu.
• Assailants wanted to free their accomplices, says CTD.
• Terrorists were involved in attacks, targeted killings on security forces, it adds.

PESHAWAR: Four militants and three detainees were killed in the exchange of fire when a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) squad came under attack in the North Waziristan tribal area, a spokesperson of the law enforcement agency said Tuesday.

The official said that the CTD personnel were transporting three detainees from Miranshah to Bannu when they were ambushed by the terrorists near Mir Ali Bypass during which the captives and four of the attackers were killed. 

The spokesperson added that the attackers wanted to free their accomplices.

"The eliminated terrorists were involved in grenade attacks on security forces and police as well as targeted killings, specifically the attack on the Cantt Police Station and martyring of constable Iftikhar." 

Four sub-machine guns, cartridges and other ammunition were recovered from the dead, the security agency's spokesperson stated.

After the attack, the security forces and heavy police parties launched a search operation in the area to track down the terrorists who fled, the CTD added.

Insurgency is rearing its ugly head as terrorist attacks across Pakistan have increased lately — especially in the northern and north-western parts of the country — since the end of the ceasefire by outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) last year.

However, the government and other stakeholders are holding consultations on how to deal with the daunting challenge of terrorism.

ASI among eight hurt in North Waziristan attack

In one of the recent militant attacks, eight people were injured when armed assailants attacked the house of a police officer in the Dandey Saidgi area of North Waziristan earlier this week.

The local and official sources said the incident had taken place in the limits of Ghulam Khan Police Station. Those injured in the attack included ASI Ameenullah, two women and five others.

The assailants escaped after the attack, while the injured persons had been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Miranshah.

Earlier, a terrorist bid to attack a police station in Lakki Marwat had been thwarted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police.

Police had repulsed the attack by terrorists on a police post in the southern district after observing the movement of militants through thermal imaging, night vision cameras installed by the police in remote areas.