PESHAWAR – At least 71 militants were killed and several others got injured on Wednesday during clashes with security forces in different localities of FATA and Swat, while extremists killed 11 security men and two members of Swat Defence Committee.
According to details, 63 militants and 10 soldiers were killed in fighting 20km from the checkpost on the border between the Mohmand and Bajaur agencies, Frontier Corps spokesman Major Fazal-ur-Rehman said. “It was fierce fighting. We also sought air support to target militants’ positions,” he said.
The security forces backed by gunship helicopters pounded militant hideouts in Ghundai and Samai areas of Khar, Bajaur Agency, in the ongoing operation. The Bajaur-Peshawar Highway has been closed for traffic due to operation.
Likewise three militants were killed in fighting with security forces in South Waziristan Agency. Reportedly militants attacked a check post with heavy weapons in Khesora locality and killed a security man and injured three others. In retaliation, the forces launched a counterattack, targeted militant positions with heavy artillery and killed three militants.
Meanwhile, five miscreants were killed in a clash with the security forces in Manglor area of tehsil Charbagh, Swat. The deceased were identified as Sardar Ali, Sardar Hussain, Hazrat Usman, Afzal Khan and Subhanullah.
On the other hand, unknown miscreants killed two members of Swat Defence Committee – Bacha Khan and Bahadar Khan – in Kandaw area. So far nine members of the Defence Committee have been killed in Swat.
AFP adds: helicopter attacks and heavy artillery on Wednesday killed 38 militants in Bajaur on the Afghan border where commanders had said the Taliban were purged, officials said.
The fierce fighting also left 10 paramilitary soldiers dead, they said.
Troops have been fighting in Bajaur since August 2008, trying to smash Taliban and Al-Qaeda hideouts, but there are indications that militants are trying to make yet another comeback.
Commanders claimed victory in February 2009 but violence returned when the military switched attention to fighting the Taliban in South Waziristan and Swat, elsewhere in the northwest.
Troops mounted another offensive in Bajaur earlier this year and declared the terrain again free of Taliban in March. But Wednesday, troops swung into action in Ghaundu and Samsai villages about 14 kilometres southwest of Khar, the main town in Bajaur.
Local administration official Tahir Khan said helicopter gunships and long-range artillery opened fire following intelligence reports that some Taliban militants had again infiltrated from neighbouring Mohmand district.
“At least 38 militants were killed and 10 soldiers were martyred,” Bajaur administration chief Zakir Hussain Afridi told reporters as he showed 18 bodies of militants in the presence of local forces commanders.
The security forces destroyed two Taliban hideouts and arrested 23 militants during the clashes, he added.
Officials said Taliban had issued pamphlets warning their comrades not to surrender or accept government job offers. Posters have also been pasted in markets and at the gates to mosques, local administration chief Adalat Khan told AFP.
“The move appears to be a Taliban effort to terrorise people and say they are still present in the area,” he said.
Local residents quoted the Pashtu-language poster as warning: “We would ask people, who fell prey to government propaganda, to repent for their sin, otherwise we will take action against them.”
The government fixed June 30 as a deadline for militants to surrender their arms in return for jobs on the local police force, officials said. Failure to surrender would see their homes destroyed, they added.
Bajaur was also the scene of a 2006 US drone strike that targeted but missed Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri.