Islamabad: Pakistani security forces have killed 1,114 terrorists since the launch of an anti-terror campaign following the deadly December 16 attack on an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Monday. Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the Army Public School attack that killed 150 people, nearly almost all school children.

The interior minister told a news conference here after a cabinet meeting that 885 terrorists have been arrested during the nine-month period. The cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also reviewed progress in the anti-terror National Security Plan (NAP) since the school attack. He said a large number of intelligence-based operations have been conducted in urban areas after the military operation in North Waziristan tribal region in June last year. He said a substantial decrease in terror incidents has been witnessed across the country since the Waziristan operation. The minister said the port city of Karachi has also witnessed improvement in law and order after the launch of operations by the paramilitary forces and the police last year.

He said the government has banned 60 militant groups and has placed their nearly 8,000 members under observation. The minister said nine military courts are working in the country to try terrorists and more such courts for their speedy trial will be established as the Supreme Court has accorded legal cover to them. Nisar told reporters that 500 armed insurgents in southwestern Balochistan province have surrendered to the security forces under an amnesty plan.

(IANS)