By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) – Pakistan’s army said on Sunday they had cleared two strongholds of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh-affiliated terrorist groups in northwestern Khyber Agency near the Afghan border.
According to Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR), a media wing of the army, the Spinkai mountaintop, dominating the Saprai Pass and Star Kille in Khyber’s Rajgal Valley, both major passes from Afghanistan to Pakistan, has been secured by the Pakistani Army.
On July 16, the army launched an operation in Rajgal to wipe out terrorists from their last stronghold in Pakistani tribal areas.
“Terrorist hideouts are being targeted by artillery and army aviation, and the operation against terrorists is progressing,” Frontier Corps Inspector General Maj. Gen. Shaheen, who is leading the operation, said in a statement.
On Saturday, the ISPR said that security forces had completed the first phase of the operation in Rajgal and destroyed all militants’ hideouts in the area.
The mountainous Rajgal Valley, situated about 3,660 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level, has been a stronghold of the TTP and Lashkar-e-Islam, a Daesh-affiliated group. The valley borders Afghanistan’s Nangrahar province, considered a Daesh stronghold.
