KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Pakistani security forces have killed a militant commander involved in an attack on a passenger bus in northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) last December, confirmed a senior government functionary in the region, who said the action was part of an intelligence-based operation.
Nine people lost their lives, while 21 others were injured when militants used firearms to target a bus on the Karakoram Highway that connects Pakistani cities with its border with China.
The bus was carrying passengers from Gilgit to Rawalpindi. The attack occurred in the Hudur area of Chilas district, causing the driver to lose control and crash into a truck, which caught fire immediately.
The GB official informed the operation took place in Darel Valley of Diamer district, a place where extremist violence has been reported in the past, with some incidents claimed by the banned armed network Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
In 2018, militants torched 13 girls’ schools in the area, while six years before that, unidentified gunmen killed nine passengers and torched six buses in the region.
“The operation is still continuing against the culprits involved in the Hudur incident,” Faizullah Faraq, the official spokesperson for the GB administration, told Arab News on the phone. “The mastermind of the incident, Commander Shah Faisal, has been killed by the security forces today.”
He said the operation was planned after three facilitators of the militants targeting the bus were arrested and interrogated.
“They pointed out the culprits involved in the attack and said Commander Shah Faisal was the mastermind,” he continued. “So, the operation was launched today to arrest the culprits. However, they resisted and started firing at the security forces.”
Faraq said it was during the exchange of fire that the militant leader was killed.
“Cross-firing is continuing in the region,” he added. “The security forces have not suffered any loss of life. However, two army personnel got minor injuries, but their condition is stable.”
The military’s media wing, ISPR, has yet to issue a statement about the development.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif highlighted the importance of Pakistan’s geographical location in the region on Thursday, saying it could play a pivotal role to enhance economic connectivity in the neighborhood while addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Council of Heads of State in Kazakhstan.
Sharif arrived in Astana, the capital of the Central Asian state, to attend the SCO summit along with leaders and diplomats from China, India, Türkiye, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries to review economic and security cooperation.
His visit to the region comes at a time when his administration is trying to addressed a prolonged macroeconomic crisis faced by the country by seeking enhanced trade in the region.
Sharif has held several meetings with the top leaders of different gathered at the occasion, prompting Pakistan as a trade and transit hub connecting the landlocked Central Asian Republics to the rest of the world via the Arabian Sea.
“Excellencies, SCO leaders have repeatedly underscored the importance of investing in the connectivity of the SCO region through efficient transport corridors and reliable supply chains,” he said while addressing the gathering. “It is time to put these words into action. Pakistan’s location makes it an ideal trade conduit for the entire region. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship project of Belt and Road initiative, supplements SCO vision of regional connectivity and economic interaction.”

“Promoting the use of national currencies for mutual settlement within SCO region can help avoid international financial shocks,” he continued. “Pakistan also supports the proposal to create an SCO alternative development funding mechanism to give the needed impetus to various stalled development initiatives.”
Reflecting on the global political situation, the prime minister urged the top SCO leaders to denounce Israel’s war on Gaza.
He noted the SCO stood for the observance of the UN principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and people’s fundamental right to self-determination.
Sharif maintained the United Nations Security Council resolutions offered workable framework to resolve longstanding disputes, adding that failure to implement them had brought unimaginable sufferings of people around the world.
“One of the worst examples is Palestine where over 37,000 innocent civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed and over two million have been displaced by Israel’s indiscriminate and unabated bombing,” he said.
“SCO must outrightly denounce this barbaric act and call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, leading to the implementation of two-state solution which includes the establishment of Palestine as a viable, secure and contiguous state on the basis of pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds as its capital,” he added.

According to a statement issued by his office earlier in the day, the prime minister will participate in the SCO Plus Summit and deliver a national statement.
The “SCO Plus” meeting refers to a format that includes not only the SCO member states but also observer nations and other invited guests.
The expanded format aims to broaden the dialogue and cooperation beyond the core member countries, engaging a wider range of nations in discussions on security, economic and cultural issues.
The prime minister also met Russian President Vladimir Putin after his arrival in Astana to discuss enhanced bilateral trade and diplomatic relations and assure him that the bilateral relations between the two states would not be impacted by geopolitical contingencies or relations with other countries.
The PM Office also said Sharif will meet the Kazakhstan president during the day.