ISLAMABAD: The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday announced the successful completion of the first phase of Operation Khyber-4 in Rajgal Valley of Khyber Agency. Operation Khyber-4 is part of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad that was launched in February after a sharp uptick in terrorist attacks in the country and is aimed at ‘indiscriminately eliminating the residual/latent threat of terrorism’, consolidating the gains made in other military operations. The announcement was made through the Twitter account of the military’s media wing.
The Pakistan Army has cleared the ‘highest and craggiest’ mountain top near the Pak-Afghan border, killing many terrorists and forcing others to flee to Afghanistan, the ISPR statement said. It added that the valley associated with Brekh Top is now being cleared. “Every inch of Pakistan will be peaceful … no one can beat resilient Pakistan,” the ISPR said, adding, “Operation Khyber-4 continues with major achievement. Troops including Special Service Group (SSG) successfully cleared the highest and craggiest mountain top Brekh Muhammad Kandao near Pak-Afghan border.” During the operation, many terrorists were killed while few fled to Afghanistan. The troops dismantled the terrorist hideouts and seized huge cache of improvised explosive devices, arms and ammunition. “Terrorists gave stiff resistance but couldn’t sustain against determination of Pakistani troops.
The mountain top was planned to be cleared little later as per initial plan but with high tempo operation it has been cleared well ahead of planned timings,” the ISPR said. Having cleared the top, the forces have established posts on over 12, 000 feet high feature riddled with thick forestation. The ISPR said that the mountain top was being used as main observation point and its base as transit/storage point. ISPR DG Major General Asif Ghafoor on July 16 announced the launch of Operation Khyber-4 under Radd-ul-Fasaad to ‘wipe out terrorists’ in the Rajgal Valley area of Khyber Agency.
Published in Daily Times, July 23rd , 2017.
