Overview
- Security forces carried out a joint CTD, Swat Police and Upper Swat Police operation in Matta and Shalkho Sar on Wednesday, July 29, during which Elite Force Constable Gulfam Khan was killed and officials reported between four and six militants killed.
- Police and security sources said forces secured the strategic Rashid Sar position after the clash and that some militants had sheltered in a house and used occupants as human shields, complicating clearance efforts.
- Separately on the same day militants attacked the Khazina Banda police checkpost in Hangu, killing multiple police including a deputy superintendent, and police said retaliatory fire left several attackers dead though exact figures vary across reports.
- Funeral prayers with full honours were held for Constable Gulfam and senior officials publicly condemned the violence while authorities reiterated that Operation Ghazab lil-Haq and ongoing clearances are responses to suspected militant movement from Afghanistan.
- The operations have direct human costs for police, village defence volunteers and civilians, and they raise the risk of more clearance missions, higher local security alerts and continued cross-border pressure on Pakistan’s western frontier.