Rana Sanaullah warns of collateral damage in KP operations if residents do not cooperate

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah has warned that there could be a risk of collateral damage during the ongoing counterterrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if local people neither expel the terrorists from their areas nor make way for the security forces.

Speaking on Geo News programme “Naya Pakistan”, he said the intelligence agencies knew the number and hideouts of the terrorists and their intelligence was “excellent”. According to him, operations were being carried out in sensitive areas on the basis of information.

Rana Sanaullah said terrorists operated in groups of at least three and at most 15 people. He said that, according to him, 70 per cent of such groups were present in sensitive areas.

He said these terrorists were mingled with the population or living with the people. The residents of these areas had been asked to expel the terrorists from their localities.

According to him, if the residents did not want to do so, they should step aside so that an operation could be carried out. He said that if neither of these options was possible, there would be a risk of collateral damage.