RAWALPINDI, (Raja Furqan Ahmed) : Three soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom when terrorists opened fire on a police check post in the general area Khutti in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on the night of March 20-21, a group of militants opened fire on a police check post in the general area of Khutti, DI Khan District. The security forces immediately cordoned off the area and blocked all possible escape routes. It said that the fleeing terrorists were intercepted in the Saggu area of the district. After an intense exchange of fire, three terrorists were killed and weapons and ammunition were recovered from them. During the intense exchange of fire, 42-year-old Havaldar Muhammad Azhar Iqbal from Lodhran, 34-year-old Naik Muhammad Asad from Khanewal and 22-year-old Sepoy Muhammad Essa from South Waziristan fought bravely but were martyred. “Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists,” ISPR said. It said that sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area. “Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” ISPR concluded. Pakistan’s security forces have conducted numerous operations against terrorism across the country, not only arresting terrorists and their facilitators but also foiling several attacks during the last three months. Security forces have killed at least 142 terrorists during the last three months as operations to eliminate terrorism from the country continue. At least 1,007 terrorists were arrested during 6,921 operations by security forces across the country in the last three months. A total of 1,960 operations were conducted in K-P, out of which 1,516 were area-domination operations, 301 were intelligence-based operations, and 143 were area-sanitisation operations. As a result of the operations conducted by security forces, 98 terrorists were killed and 540 were arrested in K-P.
