Kurram violence: 10 Taliban killed as military crackdown continues

Security personnel find more militant hideouts with large arms stockpiles.

PESHAWAR:

At least 10 militants were killed and four security personnel injured in an ongoing military operation on Saturday, sources said.

The deaths occurred after Taliban mounted an attack on a security check post in the Shor Kot area of Central Kurram.

Security forces fired back and destroyed a vehicle belonging to the militants.

Sources claimed that security forces were reinforcing their positions in the areas of Dhalki, Kurtt and Kund and that militants had now moved to the Ali Sherzai area in central Kurram.

Security forces also claimed to have discovered suspected militant hideouts with large stockpiles of arms in Marghan and Manato areas.

Security forces launched an operation codenamed ‘Koh-e-Safaid’ on Monday in a 70 kilometre stretch of the Central Kurram region.

The forces claim to have killed at least 50 militants over the past five days.

In a separate incident a stray shell landed on a house, killing four people including a man and three women in the Zakhi area. The man was identified as Gulab Khan.

More displaced people arrive

Officials said that so far at least 580 families have registered at the Dovrani camp in the Sadda area of Lower Kurram, while 3,500 people have arrived in the Torwari and Doaba areas of the Hangu district to escape the violence. The displaced people were said to be living without even a roof over their heads.

Sources also said that refugees were arriving on foot in Hangu because of a lack of public transport, and have so far not received any help from the administration.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2011.