Pakistani forces kill Daesh militant in country’s restive northwest

Pakistani security forces on Sunday killed a “high-profile” member of the Daesh militant group in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said.

The militant, Surat Gul, was killed in an intelligence-based operation on the reported presence of a high-value target in the Khyber district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.

“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed terrorist commander, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities, including target killing of innocent civilians as well as extortion and was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies,” the ISPR said in a statement.

The military said a sanitization operation was being conducted to eliminate any other threats in the area.

Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces witnessed a surge in violence in recent weeks in the run-up to the Feb. 8 national elections.

Two blasts targeted offices of election candidates a day before national polls in Pakistan, killing 24 people and injuring dozens, while Rehan Zeb, an independent election candidate, was killed in KP’s Bajaur district in the run-up to the polls. Daesh claimed responsibility for all these attacks.

On Saturday, the Pakistani military said it had killed another Daesh militant who had been involved in the twin blasts in Pishin and Killa Saifullah districts of Balochistan that killed 24 people.

Pakistan reported 56 incidents of violence on the election day that resulted in the killing of another 16 people and caused injuries to 54 others.