LANDI KOTAL: Backed by air strikes and heavy artillery shelling at suspected militant hideouts, army troops have finally penetrated into the deep-forested Rajgal area of Tirah Valley, which was considered the last bastion of outlawed militant groups.
According to reports, ground troops made it to the militant-infested Rajgal area under the cover of fire by field artillery, which began around two weeks ago.
At least 2,500 residents of Rajgal had long vacated the valley after the Taliban and activists of banned Lashkar-i-Islam forcibly occupied their houses.
According to reports, most of these houses were converted into training camps, ammunition depots, private prisons and torture cells, with at least one of them being used as a suicide jackets manufacturing unit.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had said in a statement the other day that the operation was launched along the areas on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan to reinforce troops deployment in Rajgal Valley to effectively check and guard against movement of terrorists along high mountains and all-weather passes in Khyber Agency.
Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of two soldiers who embraced martyrdom on Wednesday during the operation in Khyber Agency were offered at Corps HQ Peshawar, according to the ISPR.
