4 TTP militants killed in Pakistan’s Punjab province

Lahore, May 12 (PTI) Four militants, including a ‘target killer’, of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed by security forces in Punjab province, police said on Sunday.

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police arrested TTP ‘target killer’ Faizan Ahmad Butt last week in connection with the killing of policemen in Lahore in April, a CTD spokesperson said.

In the “early hours of Sunday, (the) CTD team took the target killer Butt to Karol Jungle at the outskirts of Lahore for recovery of the weapons. Upon his identification, one pistol and two hand grenades were recovered,” the spokesperson said.

While the CTD team was at the hideout, six people believed to be TTP terrorists reached the area and opened fire at the police team to free Butt.

“The police team returned the fire, and four of the terrorists, including Butt, were killed in the crossfire. The other three managed to escape the scene,” the spokesperson said.

Two Kalashnikov rifles and a pistol were also recovered from the scene, he added.

Last month, three policemen were killed by unidentified shooters in Lahore, and the banned TTP claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In a statement issued on social media, the Khorasani faction of the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack.

Inspector General Police Punjab Dr Usman Anwar issued new guidelines for policemen in the wake of TTP’s targeted attacks, directing them to wear bulletproof jackets while discharging duties at the pickets, particularly at the entry/exit points of the city.

Policemen have also been directed to be armed with weapons while discharging duties or leaving offices.

The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country.

The Khorasani faction was formed by Abdul Wali, known as Omar Khalid Khorasani. He was considered close to Osama Bin Laden and Aiyman al-Zawahiri of al-Qaeda.

The group carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan, including a bombing in Lahore in 2016 that killed at least 75 people from the Christian community on Easter Sunday.

Khorasani was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan in 2022.