Sources told The Express Tribune that 24 soldiers of the paramilitary Chitral Scouts, five personnel of the Chitral Border Force and four policemen were killed in the raid. Four security personnel have been missing following the attack.
An uneasy calm prevails since Saturday’s incursion, though late last night, firing was reported in the area. On Sunday morning, US drones flew over Arandu tehsil of Chitral where the attack took place, said a police official from the Arandu police station. District Coordination Officer Rehmatullah Wazir told The Express Tribune that the security situation was under control and security forces were on high alert.
Wazir said security forces may have fired late in the night on suspicion there were militants in the area. “The worst is over and such attacks cannot be carried out regularly,” he added. However, Wazir expressed ignorance over drone flights over Arandu.
The authorities are still retrieving bodies of slain soldiers from remote outposts, he said, implying the death toll might rise. Locals said the entire district was in mourning because the soldiers who were killed were natives and most of them were young. They were laid to rest in their ancestral villages.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2011.
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These attacks on the beautiful enclave(Chitral)is a sign of coming waves of terrorism and extremism towards Chitral. We all Chitrali's first salute to the martyred soldiers of Chitral Scouts, Police,Levies and then request the defender of Chitral to protect Chitral from foreingn incursion, be vigilant and eagled eye for making Chitral safe from the menace which has engulfed the whole country even the world. There is no denying the fact that some elements inside Chitral particularly close to the boarder are involved to support this attack and group operating to wage war with forces and we may likely say that our security apparatus has been not so strict to the level which could notice and single out elements which are already overrun in Chitral with the support of some factions they support the ideology 0f extremism and radiclism in Chital.
God bless our brave soldiers. Protests are not enough to stop these thankless Afghanis who send their lackeys to commit crime in Pakistan. We all know that Kabul is on the Indian payroll. Let's seal the border now so that they can never have access to Pakistan. When the West leaves and they come begging again to Pakistan, they will find the door closed. Let's see of their Indian friends will still help them in crime when they are without access!