North Waziristan insurgency: Three FC soldiers killed in attack on Spinwam Fort

Three militants die in clash with security forces in Khyber Agency


Afp/our Correspondents September 15, 2014

BANNU/BARA:


Three paramilitary soldiers were killed and two others were injured when a group of militants launched a rocket attack on a mountain fort in North Waziristan Agency late Saturday night, security officials said.


Talking to The Express Tribune, a security official said around 20 rockets, fired from an unknown location hit the Spinwam Fort around 12 am. Three Frontier Corps (FC) officials were martyred in the attack and two more were injured when one of the rockets landed inside the fort, he said.



The injured soldiers were moved to the Bannu Combined Military Hospital, the official added.

According to other officials, both military and paramilitary troops were inside the well-protected fort at the time of the attack.

An intelligence official confirmed the attack and the casualties while talking to AFP.

Spinwam Fort is located some 35 kilometres from Miramshah, headquarters of the North Waziristan Agency where the military has been engaged in major offensive against militants since June.

A spokesman for the Ansarul Mujahideen militant group, which is based in the tribal districts but not affiliated with the Taliban, later claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We claim responsibility for this attack. This was to avenge the military operation in North Waziristan,” he told AFP. “We had carried out many such attacks on the Pakistan military but the media is not reporting it,” he added.

The military began a long-awaited push to clear insurgent bases from North Waziristan after a raid on Karachi airport finally sank peace talks with the Taliban. North Waziristan had become a major base for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The army says it has killed more than 900 militants and lost 82 soldiers since the start of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

Three militants killed

Three militants, said to be affiliated with Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), were killed in a clash with security officials in Bara, Khyber Agency, on Sunday evening. Two civilians were also reportedly killed in the incident.

The clash took place when the militants, armed with both heavy and light weapons, attempted to storm a security forces checkpoint in Bara’s Dogra Alam Godar area, an official of the Khyber Agency political administration told The Express Tribune. Security forces retaliated after coming under fire and were able to kill three militants, he said.

According to local sources, the three militants were affiliated with the Kandahar chapter of LeI.

Some reports claimed two security officials were also killed in the skirmish. However, neither security forces nor the political administration of Khyber Agency confirmed the reports.



Security forces launched a search operation for militants in Bara immediately after the clash. The search was in progress by the time this report was filed.

Meanwhile, some reports said steps were being taken to boost security forces’ presence in the Bar Kambarkhel area of Khyber Agency and a heavy armed forces contingent was advancing from the Sam Ghaki area.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2014.

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