KOHAT: A suspected militant was killed while a soldier sustained serious injuries in two separate incidents as the security forces launched search operation in Torchapper and other localities of restive Darra Adamkhel town on Monday.

Sources told The News that the security forces shot dead a man in Torchapper area. The body was shifted to Kohat Development Authority hospital for autopsy. The security forces claimed that the slain person was a militant, the sources said and added that his identity could not be ascertained as he neither carried the NIC nor had any other mark of identification.

A soldier of Azad Kashmir Regiment, 23-AK, sustained serious injuries in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the town. He was identified as Shah Hussain. He was shifted to Combined Military Hospital in Kohat where his condition was reported to be out of danger. There were also speculations of a helicopter crash in the town, but no one could confirm the report. Some reports suggested that the militants had gunned down an army helicopter, but these reports later turned to be baseless.

Two helicopters of Pakistan Army, however, continued hovering over the restive town for all the day on Monday, but no shelling from the choppers was reported. An Inter-Services Public Relations statement said that security forces continued offensive to clear the town of the miscreants. Maintaining the impetus of offensive, the security forces secured Indus Highway, cleared Kohat Tunnel and successfully evicted miscreants from their hideouts, the statement stated.