25 terrorists killed in Pakistan Army operation at CTD compound in Bannu: DG ISPR

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan Army commandos on Tuesday killed 25 Taliban militants during an operation to free anti-terrorism police officers who were held hostage inside a prison compound for three days, the military spokesman has confirmed.

Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the new director-general of ISPR, while sharing details of clearance operation in a talk with a private TV channel, added that two soldiers embraced martyrdom and ten people including three officers were injured during the operation.

Seven militants were arrested during the operation, he informed.

“We are determined to root out terrorism and will not hesitate to make any sacrifice in the fight against terrorism,” he told Geo News late on Tuesday night.

According to the military spokesman, the militants who overpowered prison officials, seized their weapons and demanded a safe passage to neighbouring Afghanistan were killed in the hour-long operation.

He revealed that the negotiations with the militants lasted for over 48 hours before the operation began to flush them out of the compound.

The bodies of the terrorists were transported to the nearby military hospital in Bannu, a garrison town where the prison compound was located.

Two SSG commandos martyred, all terrorists killed as operation at Bannu CTD centre concludes: Kh Asif

Bannu is close to North Waziristan, a region that long served as headquarters for militants linked to al-Qaeda and the dreaded Haqqani network of Afghan Taliban.

Pakistani Taliban, who are outlawed in Pakistan, have killed around 80,000 people in decades of violence. They were pushed into Afghanistan in a series of offensives since 2014, but have been trying to recapture their former stronghold regions since the fall of Kabul to the Afghan Taliban last year.