Terrorists killed in northwest Pakistan were trained in Afghanistan: Report

Terrorists killed in a clash with Pakistani security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Swat district, were in contact with militants in Afghanistan, according to Pakistani media reports.

Pakistani agencies revealed that terrorist Anis received special training for bomb manufacturing in Afghanistan's Kunar province, The Express Tribune reported on Sunday. Another terrorist Ali Syed, who was involved in the Swat attack, also went to the neighbouring country in 2018.

The Pakistani daily said the country's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has the records of both terrorists travelling to Afghanistan.

Anis, who also got trained at a camp in Mansehra, remained in contact with the TTP Swat commander after returning from the neighbouring and planned for terrorist activity in Swat, according to the Tribune report.

This comes amid growing concerns over the resurgence of activities by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) across several provinces in Pakistan.

Last week, the Pakistani senators from both the ruling party and the opposition raised issues about the heightened risk of terrorist attacks by the banned outfit.

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani said that a call had been made to take parliament on board regarding the situation of infiltration by the TTP in Pakistani regions, especially the ones near the border, the Dawn newspaper reported.

"It is the right of the people to know under what conditions dialogue with the group was held and on which point it ended and what threats the country is facing that the ministry is forced to use the alert," he said.

Earlier, other senators had also expressed concern over the increase in terrorist attacks. Pakistan's State Minister for Law Shahadat Hussain conceded that terror activities had witnessed a sharp increase, and stated that members of security forces were geared up to curb the menace.

The highest number of terror incidents in Pakistan this year was recorded in September, said an Islamabad-based think tank pointed to the resumption of attacks by the outlawed TTP.

The number of terror attacks increased in September compared to August this year, the Dawn newspaper reported citing the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

September witnessed 42 militant attacks with an increase of 35 per cent compared to August. The Pakistani think tank also observed an increase of 106 per cent in violence in erstwhile Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

In August this year, the think tank said the militants carried out 31 attacks across Pakistan, in which 37 people were killed and 55 others injured.

( With inputs from ANI )