Islamabad, Feb 3 (PTI) The son of the deputy governor of Afghanistan's Badghis province was among four terrorists killed during an operation in the restive northwest Pakistan last week, official media reported on Monday.
The counter-terrorism was conducted in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan district of troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Quoting sources, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported that the killing of an Afghan national related to a senior Afghan official was “irrefutable evidence” of the nexus between the Afghan government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), officially known as the Fitna Al Khawarij. The term “Khawarij” refers to a group of Muslims who broke away from mainstream Islam in the 7th Century.
“Among those killed was the son of the Deputy Governor of Baghdeis province of Afghanistan. He was identified as Badaruddin alias Yousaf,” according to Radio Pakistan.
Modern American-made night vision equipment, along with M16A4 and M24 sniper rifles, were recovered from the slain terrorists.
Badaruddin had previously received training at an Afghan Taliban training centre and later became a part of Fitna Al Khawarij. He was directly involved in the new wave of terrorist attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
It further reported that the Afghan authorities have refused to receive Badaruddin alias Yousaf's body despite multiple requests from Pakistan.
Radio Pakistan claimed that the Afghan Taliban leadership still maintains close ties with terrorist organizations, including Fitna Al Khawarij and the killing of the Afghan Deputy Governor's son is clear evidence of it.
Pakistan recently repatriated the body of an Afghan national involved in terrorist activities who was killed in an operation in Balochistan’s Zhob district.
Terror attacks have increased in Pakistan, which regularly blames the Afghan government for its inaction to tackle the TTP threat. Relations have deteriorated between Islamabad and Kabul over the issue of militancy by the TTP.
According to the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) think-tank, 2024 was the deadliest year for the civil and military security forces of Pakistan in a decade, with at least 685 members of security forces losing their lives amid a total of 444 terror attacks.
Another security think-tank, the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, stated that terrorist attacks across Pakistan increased by 42 per cent in January, showing the rising threat of militancy for the country. PTI SH ZH ZH