PHOTO: ISPR/EXPRESS FILE
MIRAMSHAH/ BANNU:
Seven army soldiers were killed in a suicide blast that triggered a fierce gunfight that also left 19 terrorists dead in a region on the confluence of the borders between North and South Waziristan tribal agencies on Monday.
The deadly attack took place when security forces were hunting down militants in the mountainous Peer Ghar area of Ladha tehsil in South Waziristan. “When being chased and cordoned, one terrorist exploded his suicide jacket, resultantly seven soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom),” says a statement issued by the military’s media wing, the ISPR.
Peer Ghar shares borders with North Waziristan and Afghanistan. The blast triggered a gunbattle between militants and troops in which 19 insurgents were killed. “Nineteen terrorists – including five of their commanders – were killed in an intense exchange of fire with security forces in the uncleared pocket,” the ISPR adds.
The area is remote and off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the army’s claims such as the number and identity of those killed. Some tribal sources in the region, however, claimed that 11 soldiers were killed and three wounded in the suicide attack.
The injured soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital in Wana camp. Wana is the administrative headquarters of South Waziristan, which used to be a stronghold of fighters from the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan before they were routed in a massive military operation, codenamed Rah-e-Nijat (Path to Salvation), in 2009.
In mid-June last year, the military mounted another major offensive, Zarb-e-Azb, in North Waziristan against homegrown militants and their foreign associates – including the deadliest of Afghan Taliban factions, the Haqqani network. The militants were believed to be using North Waziristan as a springboard for launching attacks on US-led foreign forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.
According to the military, 2,000-plus terrorists have been killed and most parts of the troubled agency have been purged of militants, but pockets of resistance still remain. Subsequently, hundreds of thousands of tribesmen uprooted from their homes as a result of the operation have started relocating to their homes in the areas secured by the military.
Three weeks ago, the military started a ground operation in the remote areas of Ladha and Shawal Valley after warplanes and helicopter gunships softened the targets there.
The latest violence came two days after remotely-piloted American aircraft struck two militant compounds in Shawal Valley where an important meeting of militants from Haqqani network was in progress. At least nine militants were killed and four injured in the drone strike.
Policeman killed in targeted attack
Gunmen shot dead a policeman in the Kakki area of neighbouring Bannu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Monday morning.
Constable Moeenullah of the Frontier Reserve Police was deputed at the residence of Supreme Court Judge Dost Mohammad Khan at Kakki Khas. He went on leave a couple of days back and was returning on duty Monday morning when targeted.
The gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on Constable Moeenullah, who received multiple bullet injuries and died at a nearby hospital. The gunmen escaped the scene unidentified and unchallenged.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2015.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ