Wednesday’s air raids targeted the hideouts of militants in Datta Khel tehsil, which used to be a stronghold of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a local commander allied with the Haqqani Network, an official of the security forces said. Several hideouts of militants were also destroyed in the air strikes.
Independent local sources said that fighter jets bombed the safe havens of militants in Khar Tangi, Maizer and Mada Khel areas of Datta Khel. Soon after the blitz, fighters loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur rushed to the site to retrieve bodies. Sources said that 13 bodies were pulled out from the rubble – six of them were identified as Arab nationals and seven Uzbeks.
Security forces have imposed a curfew in the area and no one is allowed to travel on the main roads, local sources said, adding that helicopter gunships also bombed suspected hideouts of militants in the morning – but there was no official or unofficial word on the casualties from these strikes.
Over in Khyber Agency, two members of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI) extremist group were killed in a clash with rival Tauheedul Islam (TuI) militia on Wednesday. Seven TuI fighters were also wounded in the clash that took place in the Naray Baba area of Tirah Valley, an official of the security forces confirmed to The Express Tribune.
Separately, the bodies of eight militants killed in Tuesday’s failed attack on security check posts in Orakzai Agency were shifted to a Levies centre in the Shakas area of Khyber Agency for identification.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2014.
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