FOUR terrorists, including militant commander Ihsanullah alias Ihsan Sanray, were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) carried out in Ghariom, Shaktu, near the inter-district boundary of North and South Waziristan. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar slain terrorist commander was the mastermind behind several terrorist activities. Recently, he had planned terrorist attacks in Shaktu which led to the martyrdom of several soldiers as well as officers, including Lt Nasir and Capt Sabih.
This is yet another important achievement of our defence forces in their fight against the menace of terrorism in which they have scored unparalleled victories. The operation is also reflective of the oft-repeated commitment of the defence forces and their leadership that the war on terror would be taken to its logical conclusion. Last week, the armed forces had killed terrorist mastermind Waseem Zakeria and four of his accomplices in an IBO in North Waziristan besides arresting 10 militants during the operation near Mirali. The successful operations augur well as recently there has been a surge in terrorist incidents with clear indications of foreign hand in fomenting trouble in the country. In fact, the problem of terrorism in Pakistan and also in the region has foreign connections as a number of conflicting interests are at work in an effort to undermine the prospects of peace in the region. Pakistan defence forces have almost done their job by launching a comprehensive operation against terrorists of all sorts and the threat can be eliminated once for all if operations are launched with similar spirit by neighbouring Afghanistan and interference by some regional countries comes to a halt. On its part, Pakistan is making sincere contribution to the cause of peace as is evident from the role it is playing to make the Afghan reconciliation process a success and secure borders through border management project. These and other goodwill gestures need to be reciprocated by other stakeholders/powers.
