Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: All schools and colleges are observing a holiday today (Tuesday) on account of the precarious law and order situation in Bannu, on the directives of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Bannu.
As per the official notification issued last night, Deputy Commissioner Bannu declared that all private and public educational institutions shall remain closed on Tuesday, i.e., December 20. The development comes after the Taliban stormed into a prison of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) located in Bannu.
Taliban are demanding a safe exit to Afghanistan by aerial means, and dozens of fellow militants were freed from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) prison after the ambush. Recently a notable uptick has been recorded in the terrorist attack in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Terrorists used the latest sniper guns with night vision thermal goggles to martyr four policemen in Lakki Marwat days ago.
This year, 116 policemen have lost their lives in terrorist attacks, while 110 have been injured. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) have arrested 784 terrorists this year while killing 170. Terrorists carried out 118 attacks in the province from mid-August till November and 26 policemen, 12 personnel of LEAs, and 17 civilians embraced martyrdom in these attacks.
Standoff in talks forced closure of schools
The standoff between the security forces and banned TTP militants continued for the second day on Monday as the CTD centre remained under the militants’ control. Late Sunday, the militants took control of the building after they snatched weapons from their investigators and took a number of law-enforcers hostages.
