69 terrorists killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Jan 1 to Mar 15: police

As many as 69 terrorists associated with the banned TTP outfit were killed by Pakistan police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in different engagements from January 1 to March 15, official data released on Thursday said. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police lost 26 policemen in the line of duty while fighting against terrorists during the same period, according to the data released by the Central Police Line here.

The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a militant group having ideological similarities with Afghan Taliban. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities recently, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, after the TTP group ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

Giving the break-up of those injured, the Central Police Line data said, 31 were injured in gunbattles.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police faced 29 attacks on their installations in January, 24 in February and 15 till March 15 this year.

The number of attacks on police posts made in the same period are 16 while seven police stations were attacked too.

Similarly, police search parties were attacked nine times in the province, the report added. Pakistan has often stated that the weapons left by the US after hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 were being used by the TTP terrorists against the country.