Operation Khyber-4 has been completed: One more farce is over
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor announced in a press conference on 21st August, that Operation Khyber-4 has been completed.
Operation Khyber-4 was launched on 15th of July as a part of Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad and now its ground objectives in Rajgal and Shawal valleys have been achieved.
Operation Khyber was originally announced in 2014 as a part of Pakistan Army's extension of Operation Zarb-e-Azab to parts of Khyber. It has been divided in to four phases since then, Khyber-4 being the ongoing phase targeting ISIS among other terrorist organizations.
ISPR DG said that 52 terrorists were killed during the offensive while 31 were injured and 4 militants surrendered themselves to the military forces. He also announced that 152 landmines were dismantled during the course of the operation and 91 check posts had been established in Rajgal valley.
Khyber is the code-name for a military offensive being conducted by Pakistan's military in the Khyber Agency in four phases; Khyber-1, Khyber-2, Khyber-3 and Khyber-4.
Khyber Agency is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with insurgents and militants. Terrorist organisations including Al Qaeda and ISIS have had presence there. The plains of Bara hold strategic significance for militant groups as they connect the agency to the outskirts of Peshawar. The key area also straddles the NATO supply line into Afghanistan. The region has been long fought over by a mix of militant organisations, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Ansarul Islam and Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-e-Islam.
He said that the security forces have carried out 3300 operations under Radd-ul-Fasaad so far. He added, 'Rangers carried out 1728 operations across Punjab.'
Recently, the Afghan government criticized the Pakistani government for not having informed Kabul of the intended operation along the Durand Line.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD) said that it had “verbally” agreed that when Afghanistan or Pakistan launches military operation against insurgency, “we will agree with both sides and also the operation must be monitored by the U.S or China”.