PESHAWAR: A key commander of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was killed during a gun battle, police sources claim.
The Station House officer (SHO) of Kulachi Police Station, Haroon Khan said one terrorist has been gunned down during the encounter as a probe into the incident continues.
Upon receiving a tip-off about the presence of the alleged militant, the police conducted an operation in the Kulachi area.
During an exchange of fire between police personnel and the militants, the commander - also allegedly one of the masterminds of the Dera Ismail Khan prison break - was killed. Dozens of heavily-armed Taliban insurgents had freed nearly 175 inmates, including 35 ‘high-profile militants’ in the prison break in 2013.
The militant killed today belonged to Noorzai tribe and was a resident of Rori village and was involved in other terrorist activities as well. The commander was wanted by the authorities in connection with another attack in the Loni area of Kulachi, police sources said.
One killed in blast on peace committee
At least one person was killed and three others were injured in a blast in the Landi Kotal area of Khyber tribal region.
The deceased belonged to the Tawheed ul Islam peace committee.
Official sources say that the vehicle of Tawheed ul Islam peace committee activists was targeted in Landi Kotal’s Zakakhel area destroying the vehicle completely.
The peace committee holds Lashkar-i-Islam militant group responsible for the attack.
Meanwhile the Zakakhel tribesmen and the Afghan refugees living in parts of Bara tehsil have been warned by the Lashkar-i-Islam militant group to join them or leave the area.
The Lashkar-i-Islam and Zakakhel tribesmen have been fighting for the last one year and renewed threats would further deteriorate the situation in the area.
Khyber tribal area is a part of Pakistan’s semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) on the Afghan border. The Taliban and other Al Qaeda-linked groups, who stage attacks in both countries, are known to have strongholds in the zone.
Gun attack kills one, injures two others
In a separate incident, one person was killed and two others were wounded when unidentified armed gunmen opened fire at a house in Peshawar’s Daudzai area.
Police personnel and rescue teams immediately reached the site of the incident and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital.
Sources from the rescue teams confirmed that the incident left one person dead and two others injured.
Women were also among the victims.
About a dozen assailants attacked a house in Garibabad area of Daudzai, police sources said.
However, it has not been confirmed as yet if the incident was a militant attack or a personal feud.
Exchange of fire kills three in Bannu
Separately, at least three people were killed in an exchange of firing between two rival groups at Bannu Township chowk near Link Road.
Police sources said the incident was the result of an old enmity.
Weapons and explosives recovered
Security forces on Sunday claimed to have recovered explosive-filled drums and suicide vests near a police post in Chamkani area in the outskirts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's provincial capital city of Peshawar.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Peshawar, Muhammad Faysal told Dawn that two plastic cannisters containing 30 kilograms of explosives each were buried in the fields near Wadpaga Police chekcpost in Shapur area of Chamkani while a suicide jacket was also been seized from the area.
He said that prima cords and ball bearings were also recovered with the explosives adding that the Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) was called in to defuse the bombs.
The bomb disposal squad officials said that the suicide jacket weighed about eight kilograms.
Police sources said that the explosives and suicide vest were meant for some huge sabotage activity which was averted in time.
Also, two suspects were arrested and huge quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from a pick up on Ramak Road in southern Dera Ismail Khan, according to police sources.
Police claimed to have seized about pistols, five Kalashnikov rifles and 25,000 rounds of bullets.