• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Asia
  4. Situation under control, all siege militants killed: Pakistan
Asia

Situation under control, all siege militants killed: Pakistan

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 20 Dec 2022 18:35
  • 1 Shares

After negotiations failed to end a two-day standoff, Pakistani army commandos stormed a counterterrorism facility on Tuesday and killed terrorists who had taken over the location.

  • Pakistani soldiers stand guard on a road leading to the cantonment area in Bannu (Zahid Muhammad)
    Pakistani soldiers stand guard on a road leading to the cantonment area in Bannu (Zahid Muhammad)

Pakistani Defense Minister stated that army commandos stormed a counterterrorism facility on Tuesday and killed terrorists who had taken over the location while also rescuing their hostages after negotiations failed to end a two-day standoff.

In the operation, which resulted in the death of two Special Services Group (SSG) commandos and the injury of other soldiers, including an officer, Khawaja Asif assured parliament that the army had liberated all the captives.

"The SSG started this operation... and all the terrorists have been killed," he assured in televised comments, stressing that the army had retaken full control of the counterterrorism compound.

On Sunday, terrorists from the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) held at the facility hostages and stole firearms from the interrogators. It is worth noting that Asif did not mention the number of militants slain or the hostages they had held.

The big picture

Commando forces had encircled the highly fortified military cantonment area in the Bannu district where the detention center was situated, where about 20 fighters from the Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were hiding.

Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a separate entity from the Taliban in Afghanistan that shares a similar ideology with the group. It has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that have been ripping through Pakistan since the group's emersion in 2007.

The group's fighters have been mostly forced out of Pakistan into neighboring Afghanistan. They have been pouring into the country since 2010, though they have seen a bolstering of their status in light of the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan late last year after the US’ hasty withdrawal.

A senior security official said as quoted by Reuters that although Pakistani authorities had initiated negotiations on Monday in an effort to end the standoff, "all options failed and the terrorists refused to release innocent people, so we opted to use force."

Residents claimed that on Tuesday, while helicopters flew overhead, they heard explosions emanating from the area around the center.

The TTP killed four police officers in a nearby town the day before the standoff at the anti-terrorism center in the Bannu district, which is just outside the Pakistan-Afghanistan borders.

At the time, the militants were seeking safe passage to Afghanistan; the TTP originally acknowledged this information but later stated that the militants may flee to Pakistan's tribal regions since they were safe there, as per government sources.

Since 2009, the Pakistani military has launched a number of offensives in the tribal regions that housed the headquarters of both domestic and international militant groups, including Al-Qaeda.

The military actions compelled the insurgents and their leaders to elude capture and flee to nearby Afghan districts. Islamabad claims they established training facilities there to organize and carry out strikes inside Pakistan, a claim that the Afghan government disputes.

  • Pakistan
  • Pakistani Army
  • Al Qaeda
  • TTP

Trending Now

All
Pakistani Army troops in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan (EPA-EFE)

Ten Pakistani troops killed in separatists' ambush

Most Read

US dollar may lose status as global reserve currency: Yellen

US dollar may lose status as global reserve currency: Yellen

  • US & Canada
  • 22 Mar
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference on 25, February, 2022. (AFP)

Kiev unable to launch counteroffensive: Zelensky

  • Europe
  • 25 Mar
Europe's move has only increased Putin’s esteem outside the West -- but estimation of Europe’s political nous and understanding of Russia, however, is sharply diminished.

Lawfare Comes into Fashion: The New Geo-political ‘Rack’

  • Analysis
  • 25 Mar
Crewmen enter Bradley fighting vehicles at a US military base at an undisclosed location in Northeastern Syria, on November 11, 2019 (AP)

US occupation bases under fire in Syria for second day in a row

  • MENA
  • 24 Mar

Read this

All
Khader Adnan
Palestine

Khader Adnan's health condition deteriorating rapidly: Prisoners Club

  • 26 Mar
French police crackdown leaves protester's life hanging by a thread
Europe

Sainte-Soline police violence leaves protester life hanging by thread

  • 26 Mar
Demonstrators gather outside Downing Street during a Black Lives Matter march in London, on June 6, 2020.
Europe

Black children more likely to be strip-searched in England, Wales

  • Today
Elon Musk's photo is seen through a Twitter logo in this illustration taken October 28, 2022. (Reuters)
Technology

Twitter worth less than half of what I paid for it: Elon Musk memo

  • 26 Mar
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS