Pakistan claims eliminating 80 insurgents in Tirah

KABUL border, a media report said on Sunday.

Security forces also suffered casualties in the operation, which left an army major injured. The soldiers’ bodies were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar.

A Pakistani newspaper reported fighter jets pounded insurgent positions in the Tirah valley of Khyber Agency — home to the Tehreek-i-Taliban (TTP), Lashkar-i-Islam and other outlawed groups.

Dawn quoted the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) as saying that 80 militants had been eliminated in the operation codenamed Khyber-2. It said seven soldiers also lost their lives.

Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) spokesman Salahuddin Ayubi claimed the bodies of 11 soldiers were in his group’s custody. The soldiers were killed during a ground offensive in Sipah area.

ISPR chief Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa tweeted that the Khyber-II operation had been launched to clear areas close to the border. He said that security forces had made steady progress.

PAN Monitor/mud

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