4 terrorists killed in North west Pakistan

At least four terrorists were killed and several injured during a joint counter-terrorism operation in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on Wednesday.

An Elite Force constable was killed during the exchange of fire in the Shalkho Sar area of the scenic Swat district late Tuesday night. Elite Force of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police is a specialised unit of 6,000 for high-risk security and counter terrorism operations.

The joint operation by Swat Police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) was conducted under the direct supervision of the Regional Police Officer (RPO) Malakand, the District Police Officer (DPO) Swat, and the Brigade Commander Swat, a police spokesman said.

The security personnel tightened the cordon around the terrorists to increase pressure, resulting in heavy losses for the terrorists.

Four of them were killed and several others wounded during the operation, the spokesperson said.

The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a think tank, said in its monthly security assessment released in early June that Pakistan’s security situation deteriorated sharply in May after two consecutive months of improvement and that it was driven primarily by escalating terrorist violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

In the Swat Valley, since 2005 till date, several terror attacks have targeted policemen and security personnel with some politicians receiving threatening calls too. The recent wave of terrorist incidents in the valley has once again raised serious security concerns and underscored the need for sustained vigilance against militant regrouping in the district, local leaders said.

“While the attacks do not necessarily indicate a full-scale insurgency, they serve as a stark reminder that remnants of militant networks may still be attempting to regain a foothold in an area that was once under Taliban control,” said Ayub Asharai, a former Parliamentarian and senior leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) Swat.

Swat witnessed one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan’s history when the Taliban gradually established their influence in the valley between 2007 and 2009.

During that period, militants challenged the writ of the state, imposed their own parallel system, closed schools, particularly those for girls, targeted security personnel and civilians, and forced thousands of families to flee their homes.

In response, Pakistan’s security forces launched a major military operation in 2009 that dismantled the Taliban’s strongholds and restored the state’s authority.

“The latest incidents, however, have revived painful memories of the past and prompted renewed concerns among residents,” Asharai said.