Orakzai cleared of militants, says army

ORAKZAI: The army operation against militants in the Orakzai tribal region has now comes to an end, claimed a military official.

Operation incharge Brigadier Pervez, while addressing a press briefing, said that 90 per cent of the agency area has been cleared of militants during the operation, which was lasted for five and a half months.

Hundreds of families were returning back to the area for the Eid celebrations.

The agency was a stronghold of rebels and terror activities in South and North Waziristan, Khyber agency, Peshawar and other areas of the country were being controlled from here, said Pervez.

All the hideouts of militants had been destroyed and all the areas near Tira had been cleared, he added. “11,000 out of 30,000 families were returning to their homes in the agency.”

Pervaiz said that 60 soldiers had embraced martyrdom during the operation while 600 militants were killed and 250 arrested.

Security forces also seized huge cache of arms and ammunitions, explosives and suicide jackets, he added.