TIRAH (Kashmir English): Security sources have rejected reports of a drone strike in the Tirah area of Khyber, terming the claims “baseless and misleading.”
According to officials, no aerial engagement or drone activity occurred in the region, and all the news claiming a drone strike is”Blant Lies”.
The authorities have confirmed that militants belonging to the FAK group, allegedly with connections to the local drug mafia, carried out synchronized attacks on five check posts of the security forces late last night.
The assaults were repelled using small arms and mortar fire, preventing any breach of security installations.
Seven militants were killed in the exchange, and several others were injured, according to officials.
Security sources called attempts by militant-linked accounts to portray the incident as a drone strike part of a “deliberate propaganda campaign.”
Officials also dismissed claims made by Abdul Ghani Afridi regarding civilian casualties or collateral damage, describing them as misinformation circulated “at the behest of criminal and militant networks.”
Images circulating online that were claimed to show injured “wedding attendees” were also termed misleading by the authorities, who pointed out that the photos only showed “young adult males with militant-like profiles,” without a single woman, child, or elderly person among them, which raises very strong questions about the narrative being pushed.
Moreover, the authenticity of a leaked screenshot purportedly from the Medical Superintendent of Hayatabad Medical Complex was questioned.
According to officials, the nature of the injuries did not appear compatible with damage from a drone strike fact which further refuted the claim.
The security functionaries believed that the online story was part of an orchestrated misinformation campaign aimed at maligning the security forces and masking the role of militant and criminal elements active in the area.
