CTD, police kill two suspected militants in Sarai Naurang operation

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  Police officers take position during a counter terrorism training session at the Elite Police Training Centre in Nowshera, Pakistan, February 10, 2023.— Reuters

PESHAWAR: Two suspected militants were killed late Wednesday in a joint operation by the Counter Terrorism Department （CTD） and local police in Sarae Naurang, officials said, following a tense exchange of gunfire.

Officials from the CTD in Bannu and Lakki Marwat stated that their teams had been tracking the pair since early evening, after receiving information that the men were moving around the Nali Chak Road belt and possibly planning an attack there.

By the time the units reached the spot, the suspects had already shifted positions, and the situation, as one official put it, “turned hostile very quickly.”

Gunfire broke out almost immediately, and after an intense but brief battle, both men lay dead. Officers later said the two had been on their radar for months.

According to CTD sources, one of the dead, identified as Azmatullah, had been named in multiple cases linked to attacks on police and security personnel, including incidents in which DSP Gul Muhammad, Constable Naseem Gul and Lieutenant Arifullah were martyred.

The second suspect, Mohammad Sohail, had earlier been accused of the killings of Constable Mansoor Khan and LHC Hashim Khan.

Police said the bodies have been shifted for identification procedures, and further checks are underway to determine whether the men were part of a wider cell still operating in the region.

Earlier, Security forces eliminated four terrorists belonging to the Indian proxy, Fitna al-Khawarij, in multiple engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from November 17 to 18, the Inter-Services Public Relations （ISPR） said on Wednesday.

The security forces in Bajaur district conducted an intelligence-based operation （IBO） on the reported presence of terrorists.

During the conduct of the operation, troops effectively engaged the terrorists\“ location, and after an intense fire exchange, one militant was killed.

Two more terrorists were neutralised in separate IBOs conducted in Spinwam and Zakir Khel areas of KP\“s North Waziristan district.

In another encounter that took place in Dera Ismail Khan district, security personnel successfully neutralised one more terrorist.

“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from Indian sponsored killed khwarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in these areas,“ the military\“s media wing said.

“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored kharji found in the area,“ it added.

The army vowed to continue a relentless counterterrorism campaign, along with law enforcement agencies, under the vision of “Azm-e-Istehkam“ at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.

Fresh IBOs were followed by the security forces\“ action in the KP province, in which they neutralised 23 Indian-sponsored terrorists in separate engagements from November 16 to 17.

Pakistan has faced increased cross-border terrorist incidents since the Taliban regime returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

KP and Balochistan, the two bordering provinces, have borne the brunt of these attacks.

KP alone recorded over 600 terror incidents, in which at least 79 police personnel were martyred alongside 138 civilians, during the first eight months of 2025, according to a police report.

Pakistan has consistently urged the Afghan Taliban to abide by the Doha agreement in 2020, in which they committed to not allowing their soil to be used against any country.