Brazen assault: Taliban militants storm Levies checkpoint

Take away official weapons, motorbikes in Killa Saifullah

QUETTA: A group of armed Taliban militants has taken away official rifles and motorcycles from a check post of Balochistan Levies in Gwal Ismailzai in Killa Saifullah district in the early hours of Wednesday, a senior official of Balochistan Levies told The Express Tribune.

Around 25 to 30 militants stormed the check post in a remote area of Killa Saifullah district. “The Taliban militants were more than two dozen. The five personnel inside the check post were encircled by the militants,” the senior official said. Taliban militants took away five official rifles, three motorbikes, five bulletproof jackets and the walkie- talkie. “The incident took place at 2.30 am; the militants fled towards mountainous areas of Murghagebzai in Zhob district which shares borders with Waziristan, Afghanistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P),” the official said.

More Levies and security personnel reached the area after the attack. Balochistan Levies have mounted a massive hunt in the area to trace the Taliban militants, a senior official of Killa Saifullah told The Express Tribune.

According to official sources, the security forces in the past one month, the Taliban militants have also showed their influence in Zhob and Killa Saifullah areas, and have kidnapped nine people, forcing them off a passenger coach and a private car.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2015.