Tens of thousands rally against military offensive in Bannu

KABUL (Pajhwok): Tens of thousands of people on Friday staged a protest demonstration in Bannu district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province against a recently launched military operation.

Videos and photos of the protest are making rounds on social media, with one protestor saying: “We will never let our land become part of ‘dollar wars’ again and will not leave our homes and villages in the name of peace.”

The protesters said hundreds of thousands of people had come out against the ‘drama’ (military operation) in Bannu and that the Pashtuns no longer accepted fake wars on their homeland.

In June, the Pakistan Army launched an operation code named ‘Immediate Stability’ against local militants in Bannu and some other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In July, eight Pakistani soldiers were killed and several others wounded after a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle against the wall of a military center in Bannu.

The military had said ten terrorists tried to enter the cantonment, but they were repelled and all were killed in clashes with security forces.

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