Resurgence in terrorism poses a renewed threat: Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif

New Delhi: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday paid tributes to the commandos of the special forces of Pakistan Army who lost their lives on Tuesday in the rescue operation that was launched after negotiations between the government and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants to end the hostage crisis failed.

Pakistan Army's special forces killed all 33 TTP terrorists, ending a nearly two-day long hostage crisis in Bannu cantt that had gripped the nation.

"Resurgence in terrorism poses a renewed threat to our national security. Our valiant security forces are fully capable of dealing with this threat. I pay rich tributes to our brave sons of the soil who took part in Bannu operation. May Allah accept the sacrifices of our martyrs," Sharif wrote on Twitter,

Footage aired on TV on Tuesday showed plumes of smoke rising in the air from the CTD compound.

The standoff began on Sunday when an arrested TTP militant, who was being interrogated at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station inside the Bannu Cantonment, snatched an AK-47 from the police and opened fire.

He then freed other wanted militants being held at the building and together they took control of the compound. They also took several policemen as hostages.

The TTP demanded safe passage for its militants either to South or North Waziristan tribal districts.

The situation in Bannu remained tense on Tuesday as police and security agencies asked residents to remain indoors. A security alert was issued earlier and all schools and colleges in the Bannu district remained closed on Tuesday.

Mobile services in the cantonment area and the surrounding areas were also suspended, officials said.

"The unfortunate aspect of this is that terrorism is again making strides in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” the defence minister said.

"These 33 (militants) were under arrest regarding this situation and they had a link with multiple groups. The provincial government completely failed in its responsibility regarding the CTD

Asif credited the army for the operation, adding that the provincial government had “no role” in it.

The development comes amid a spate of terror attacks across Pakistan. Four policemen were killed when militants attacked a police station in Lakki Marwat — a district of Bannu division — on Sunday.

On Monday, an intelligence officer was killed in Peshawar, while a suicide attack in North Waziristan claimed the lives of a soldier and two civilians. In Balochistan, back-to-back bombings in Khuzdar injured 20.

On Monday, TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani had said that militants from his group seized the compound in Bannu after reports of inhuman treatment of prisoners in the CTD police station by security personnel.

The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, last month called off a ceasefire agreed upon with the federal government in June and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country.

The group, which is believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban stormed the Army Public School (APS) in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing at least 150 people, including 131 students. The attack sent shockwaves across the world and was widely condemned.

In a separate incident, at least 50 militants stormed a police station early Tuesday morning in Wana, situated in the tribal district of South Waziristan.

"More than 50 militants stormed into the police station and opened fire, injuring a constable. They took away ammunition, weapons and other equipment," the district's chief police officer said.

One militant was killed in the retaliatory fire. The rest have managed to flee, police said.

A search operation is currently underway to nab the culprits, police added.