In brief
Xinhua said police shot two suspected terrorists, including a suicide bomber, in Lakki Marwat district after the suspects opened fire on officers. Weapons and a TTP flag were seized, and an injured suspect escaped while authorities chased the fleeing individual. Officials claim the operation foiled a planned major attack by the proscribed group.
Police in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed two suspected terrorists, including a suicide bomber, during a raid on a suspicious vehicle on Nov. 4, according to Xinhua.
The raid was triggered after police received reports of a car with tinted windows parked in Lakki Marwat district; the vehicle was described as suspicious because of the tinted windows and anomalous behavior of its occupants.
When officers approached the vehicle, the suspects opened fire, forcing the police to return fire and kill the two occupants, the agency said. An injured suspect managed to escape the immediate area.
Weapons, ammunition, a flag of the proscribed Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other suspicious items were recovered from the vehicle, Xinhua reported, suggesting a militant affiliation.
Initial assessments indicated the suspects were planning a major terrorist attack, a plot the police claim was foiled by timely action, Xinhua added.
Police and the Counter Terrorism Department launched a search operation to track down the fleeing suspect and identify the deceased, the statement said.
The TTP has previously carried out numerous high‑profile attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, contributing to a climate of insecurity in the province, officials say. The group has been labelled proscribed by the Pakistani government in recent years.
Authorities continue to search for the escaped suspect while investigators work to determine the exact nature of the planned attack and the full extent of the terrorist network involved.