Restive frontiers: Three FC troops killed in Bajaur ambush

US predator strike kills six militants in North Waziristan

KHAR/ BANNU:

Three paramilitary soldiers, including a captain, were killed and two wounded in a clash triggered by a militant ambush on Frontier Corps troops in the Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur Agency on Monday. The paramilitary force claims to have killed seven militants, including a commander, in a follow-up action.

Elsewhere in the troubled tribal belt, at least six suspected militants, including three Uzbek fighters, were killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan Agency.

Political administration official Akhonzada Muhammad Yahya confirmed the incident. He said the administration was tipped off about the presence of militants in Banda village of Salarzai. Subsequently, a curfew was imposed and a search operation launched, he added.

“During the search operation, a group of militants ambushed the troops and killed Captain Islam and two petty officers – Naib Subedar Shah Zaman and Sepoy Shahid. Two more soldiers, Sepoys Naik Amal and Aftab Khan, were also injured in the attack,” he said.

The ambush triggered a gunfight in which the paramilitary troops killed seven of the attackers, including their commander, identified as Yar Wali, the official added. The troops took the bodies of dead militants into custody.

The bodies of the FC troops were shifted to the agency headquarters Khar and later airlifted to Peshawar in a helicopter. The injured were being treated at a military hospital where doctors said their wounds were not life threatening. The troops resumed the search operation after the gunfight and detained around 25 suspects, who were shifted to Khar for questioning.

Meanwhile, a remotely piloted American aircraft bombed a compound of suspected militants in North Waziristan Agency in a predawn strike on Monday, killing six suspected insurgents and wounding three others.

In the third strike of this year, the US drone fired two missiles at the compound located in the Shahi Khel area of Shawal tehsil, officials said, adding that the compound was flattened. The officials confirmed the casualties but did not say anything about the identity of those killed and injured.

However, there were reports that at least three Uzbek fighters were among the fatalities. It was not possible to independently verify the claim as the area is off-limits to journalists.

Local sources said four drones kept flying over the area, which delayed rescue efforts by an hour. Shahi Khel area is located near Pak-Afghan border, some 45 kilometres west of the agency’s headquarters Miramshah.

A massive military operation, codenamed Zarb-e-Azb, has been ongoing in North Waziristan, an erstwhile sanctuary of homegrown and foreign militants, since June 15. According to an official tally, 2,000-plus militants have been killed so far, while 126 soldiers have also died in combat operations.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2015.