"Pakistan's security forces have carried out raids in the country's southwest, killing at least 41 armed fighters, whom the country's military linked to regional rival and neighbour India. The military said in a statement on Friday that the deadly encounters took place in the province of Balochistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan and has long been a base for separatist groups seeking independence from Pakistan's central government in Islamabad."
"Despite the incident's proximity to the border with Afghanistan, the military statement claimed without providing evidence that the deadly encounters involved fighters backed by India. In the first raid, at least 30 fighters were killed on the outskirts of Balochistan's Harnai district, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper quoted the military as saying. The fighters belonged to Fitna-al-Khawarij (a term the government uses to refer to the banned Pakistan Taliban (TTP), which is allied with Afghanistan's Taliban), the army officials said."
"In a separate operation in Balochistan's Panjgur district, 11 India-sponsored terrorists belonging to the Fitna-al-Hindustan were killed, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said. The military added that ammunition as well as money allegedly looted during a bank robbery in Panjgur in December were recovered from the fighters killed in the second raid. Both raids took place on Thursday. None of the soldiers involved was killed."
Pakistani security forces conducted raids in southwestern Balochistan, killing at least 41 armed fighters in two operations. The military linked the fighters to rival India without providing evidence and identified groups as Fitna-al-Khawarij and Fitna-al-Hindustan. In the Harnai district operation, at least 30 fighters were killed, while in Panjgur district 11 were killed and ammunition and money allegedly looted in a December bank robbery were recovered. Both raids occurred on Thursday and sanitisation operations were said to be ongoing to eliminate remaining fighters. No soldiers were reported killed. India had not commented on the allegations. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed support for the armed forces.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]