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India-Pakistan

7 troops, 23 militants dead in Mohmand clash

2008-01-15

Fighting in Mohmand Agency on Monday killed 23 militants and seven soldiers, triggering panic amongst locals, officials and residents said. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told Daily Times, “It was an ambush on a paramilitary convoy.” He said seven soldiers and 23 militants were killed. The convoy was ambushed while travelling from Gath to Ghalanai. Security forces pounded Safi tehsil. Tribal sources said no casualties were reported. “Locals also joined the soldiers against the militants, destroying two vehicles,” Arshad added. Taliban commander Faqir Hussain was killed in the battle, sources said. The clash triggered panic in the locals, with residents claiming many were fleeing for safer places. Denial: Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar denied any fighters were killed, saying they had killed seven soldiers and taken 17 prisoner, Reuters reported. “We’ll not stop fighting until the government withdraws forces and ends operations in tribal regions and Swat.” Not that it has anything particularly to do with the above, but... In South Waziristan, a Wazir tribal council decided to assemble a 600-tribesmen-strong force to fight foreign militants and those harbouring them. A tribal elder in Wana said they would give three days “for anyone providing shelter to foreigners to stop,” warning of retaliation otherwise.

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India-Pakistan

Soldiers withdrawn from key posts in North Waziristan: Jirga negotiating new peace deal

2008-01-13

The army has withdrawn soldiers from key checkposts in North Waziristan and a tribal jirga is negotiating a peace deal between pro-Taliban militants and the government, official sources and military spokesman said on Saturday. “The situation has improved and the withdrawal of troops from certain checkposts is part of the re-alignment,” Major General Waheed Arshad told Daily Times as barriers and strict checking at checkposts were abolished, according to eyewitnesses. Paramilitary takeover: “These posts are now manned by paramilitary soldiers. Barriers to movement have also been removed and the strict checking of people at these places has stopped,” sources said on condition of anonymity. Earlier, the Taliban announced a unilateral ceasefire till January 1, which was later extended to January 20. A tribal source reported that a tribal jirga was ‘shuttling’ between the Taliban and government authorities to broker another peace deal. “There are signs that the two sides are working on something similar to a peace deal. But we don’t know how close they are to the deal because of secret negotiations,” a tribal source close to the jirga told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. Over 50 killed: Also on Saturday, security officials said that Pakistani troops had killed more than 50 Taliban militants on Wednesday after fighting off an attack on a military fort in South Waziristan. Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP that militants suffered “heavy casualties in the encounter” but said he had no official figures.

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India-Pakistan

Troops defeat militant attack in S Waziristan

2008-01-12

Troops defeated an attack by hundreds of militants in a restive tribal region this week, inflicting heavy casualties, officials said on Friday. The attack came hours after thousands of armed tribesmen met at Wana in South Waziristan on Wednesday, vowing to organise a lashkar to hunt down Al Qaeda-linked militants blamed for killing eight of their kinsmen. “Around 250-300 miscreants concentrated and attempted to attack Ladha Fort and Ladha checkpost on the night of January 9 to 10,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. He said the security forces retaliated with artillery and small arms fire. “The miscreants were forced to retreat and reportedly suffered heavy casualties,” Arshad added. Meanwhile, APP reported that the curfew in Swat has been relaxed from 7am to 6pm, except in Bariam Bridge, Wanai Bridge and Piochar Valley. Separately, it was reported that four members of a family were wounded when mortar shells hit their house at Mamond village, some five kilometres west of Khar in Bajaur Agency on Friday morning, an official said. Political tehsildar Sardar Yousaf told APP that a group of militants equipped with rockets and mortar shell attacked Bajaur Scout camp at Badwal Kot around 7.15am on Friday. He said security forces retaliated, but the militants escaped from the scene.

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India-Pakistan

Soldier killed, three injured in Wana clash

2008-01-09

Clashes between security forces and militants in South Waziristan left one soldier dead and three others injured on Tuesday, Online reported. Unidentified miscreants opened fire on checkposts at Tayyarza Force and Chaghmalai Force. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad confirmed the casualties. Armed men fired rockets and opened fire with automatic weapons at a security forces fort, an official told NNI. Separately, political agents said miscreants also targeted checkposts at Omar Adda, but no loss of life and property had been reported, Online said. Police in nearby Tank city said unidentified men fired several rockets at the city last night, but there was no casualties, NNI added. Kidnapped: Three soldiers were also kidnapped from the Sarokey area of South Waziristan, according to locals. The soldiers from the Waziristan Scouts Force were kidnapped while travelling in a private car, local officials said. Masked armed men stopped the car, forced the soldiers out and took them to an undisclosed location, reported NNI. Authorities blocked all traffic on the road to stop the militants from shifting the soldiers out of the tribal region, locals said. Caretaker Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan says security forces have planned a major operation against Baitullah Mehsud, the linchpin militant commander in South Waziristan. President Pervez Musharraf has blamed Mehsood for Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and accused him of recruiting suicide bombers. One of Baitullah Mehsud’s spokesmen, however, has denied any involvement in Benazir’s assassination.

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India-Pakistan

25 militants killed in S Waziristan

2008-01-03

At least 25 militants have been killed in two days of fighting between security forces and the Taliban in South Waziristan, officials said on Wednesday. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said the Frontier Corps (FC) had ceased fire on the request of a local jirga. Arshad said four FC personnel, who were kidnapped in the Luddha area on Tuesday, had not been recovered so far, adding that 30 to 35 suspects had been taken into custody in this connection. A curfew has been imposed in Parachinar as clashes between Sunni and Shia groups, NNI reported. An army Cobra gunship helicopter crash-landed near Thal, Parachinar, due to a technical malfunction on Wednesday, an ISPR statement said. The pilot and co-pilot were safe.

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India-Pakistan

12 soldiers die in Kohat suicide attack

2007-12-18

Twelve soldiers of an Army football team were killed and another five sustained injuries when a suicide bomber attacked them near the House of Signals of Pakistan Army in Kohat Cantonment on Monday. Initially, police sources said 10 soldiers died in the suicide bombing while six others sustained injuries. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad, who is Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), immediately confirmed the death of nine soldiers in the attack. He said four troops were wounded. Later the ISPR put the death toll at 12 late in the evening. Sources in Kohat told The News that the soldiers were attacked while returning to their barracks after playing a soccer match in the nearby playground. The suicide bomber, wrapped in a woollen chaddar, struck when the soldiers reached the Army Public School and College ten minutes past noon. The site of attack is a maximum-security area close to the Army’s House of Signals, which has its centre in Kohat. The second battalion of the Signals is based in this area. Official and local sources in Kohat identified some of the slain soldiers as Mohammad Nawaz, Rashid Khan, Irfan Khan, Rafiq, Shahid, Adnan, Mushtaq and Ghulam Mohammad. Other soldiers killed in the attack couldn’t be identified immediately. The sources named two injured soldiers as Amjad Khan and Shaukat while the remaining three remained unidentified till filing of this report. The injured soldiers were admitted to the Combined Military Hospital, Kohat. It was learnt the military authorities made immediate arrangements to send the bodies, mostly mutilated, of the slain soldiers to their hometowns for burial. The entire cantonment was cordoned off by deploying more troops to check the movement of suspicious people. Police officials avoided comment on the incident as it concerned the Army. A number of efforts to reach them proved futile. Subsequently, police officials requesting anonymity said 10 soldiers were confirmed killed in the explosion initially. Sources told this scribe that around six kg of explosive was used in the blast, which was supported by bolts and ball bearings to cause more casualties. It was also suspected that the explosive was Russian-made. The age of the bomber was stated to be around 20. The blast is second of its kind in Kohat during the past five months. On July 19, at least 16 persons — including 11 soldiers, a prayer leader and two minors — were killed and same number injured in suicide blast inside a mosque near Pathan Lines, Kohat Garrison during Ish’a prayers. The same day, seven other security personnel were killed in another suicide blast outside the Police Training Centre in adjoining Hangu district. It merits a mention here that seven persons were killed and several injured in a similar attack on ASC Centre in Nowshera on Sunday. The Peshawar airbase was also attacked with four rockets a few days back while a woman was killed when the explosives she was carrying exploded near an Army check-post in Peshawar Cantonment last week. Another suicide attack, targeting law enforcers, took place in Swat a few days back in which several persons were killed and injured. A late evening press release of the ISPR said in Rawalpindi that 12 security forces personnel embraced Shahadat and two others were injured in the Kohat suicide attack. At approximately 1210 hrs, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Signals Training Centre Sports Ground. Nine security forces personnel embraced Shahadat on the spot while five were injured including three critically. Later the three critically injured also succumbed to their injuries. The suicide bomber was also killed in the incident. Online adds: Terming the Kohat bomb blast a highly gruesome, President Musharraf on Monday expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the loss of innocent lives of security forces. “We will not let terrorists disturb the stability and integrity of the country at any cost, President Musharraf said in a statement when he received news of the incident in Vehari. The government is taking down to earth steps to expose the culprits of humanity (terrorists), he said. He said that blood of security forces would not go waste. He directed the concerned authorities to take good care of the injured and provide them with optimum medical facilities. He said that the mastermind involved in the blast would not be spared as such culprits are not humans. He further said that such elements were trying to create lawlessness for their own motives adding strict action would be taken against such culprits. While expressing condolence with the bereaved families, the president prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed souls in eternal peace and give courage to the family members to bear the irremediable losses.

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India-Pakistan

Seven people killed in twin Quetta blasts

2007-12-14

Two suicide bombings near an army checkpost in Quetta on Thursday killed seven people, including three personnel of the Pakistan Army, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said. An official at the Inter-Services Public Relations said three of the dead were soldiers, while the remaining four were civilians. Six people died instantly, while the seventh died at Combined Military Hospital, where all the injured were shifted for immediate treatment. Meanwhile, independent sources said the blasts had killed 12 people and injured 16. AP quoted deputy police chief Rehmatullah Niazi as saying that 10 people had died. The suicide attacks occurred two days before the visit of former premier Benazir Bhutto, who is scheduled to visit Quetta on December 15 as a part of her election campaign. No group has accepted responsibility for the blasts.

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India-Pakistan

20 militants killed in Swat clashes: army

2007-12-12

Troops launched artillery barrages on suspected militant hideouts in the northwestern Swat valley, killing 20 rebels and injuring up to 15, AFP quoted the army as saying on Tuesday. “According to our information, 20 militants were killed while 10-15 were injured on Monday night,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP. He said the army also used gunship helicopters to purge the areas of militants. “The situation is now well under control and people are returning to their homes in these areas,” Arshad added. The army said on Tuesday that it killed or wounded a “large number” of militants in an artillery barrage in Swat, AP reported. The attack was part of an operation against die-hard followers of a pro-Taliban cleric who have been battling security forces in the scenic Swat valley since July. The army said in a statement that it fired artillery at militant positions near the towns of Piochar and Loe Namal on Monday night. It also said security forces detained a man in the town of Khwazakhela for allegedly recruiting, training and harboring suicide bombers. It said the suspect was affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, a banned Islamic extremist group also involved in fighting Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region. A cache of arms, bombs, fake passports and an FM radio transmitter were seized at his house, it said. Fazlullah’s arrest soon: Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema said security forces had cleared Swat region of extremists and militants. “Maulana Fazlullah and his followers will be arrested soon,” a Daily Times staff report quoted him as saying. He said people of Swat had joined hands with the army and security agencies in their fight against Fazlullah and his followers.

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India-Pakistan

Terrorist bombs children's schoolbus in Kamra

2007-12-11

Eight people, including five schoolchildren, were injured on Monday when a suicide bomber exploded his car near a Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) bus carrying air force employees’ children, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said in a press release. The attack happened at a military base at Kamra, about 50 kilometres northwest of Islamabad. “A suicide bomber exploded his white car on the outskirts of the PAC factories on the Qutba-Attock Road on Monday at 7.30am near a PAC school bus carrying children to schools in Attock City,” the PAF said. The bomber was alone in the car and he died immediately after the explosion, it said, adding, “Consequently, five children and three adults travelling in the bus were injured.” The PAF also said that one of the injured was in critical condition but there were no immediate fatalities. The civil administration has launched an inquiry into the matter, it added. Army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said the injured children were stable, reported AP. “This barbaric attack shows how cruel the terrorists are,” he said, adding that a bus driver and a guard were also injured. Police said the children were all aged under 12. Kamra police chief Tariq Hanif told Reuters that the attack was specifically targeting the school bus.

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India-Pakistan

Swat relief package soon

2007-12-05

Army says small pockets of resistance still exist MINGORA: The federal government will soon announce a relief package for the residents of Swat district, the Peshawar corps commander said on Tuesday. Talking to journalists after visiting forward positions of troops at Nadia Top, Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Masood Aslam said there would soon be a jirga that will give good news about enforcement of Shariah. So they're just gonna go ahead and capitulate to the TNSM demands even after they've kicked Mullah Fazlullah's behind? It makes sense in an Islamic way ... Meanwhile, Swat operation in-charge Major General Nasir Janjua told journalists that 230 militants had been killed since the operation began on November 24. “Five army jawans have been martyred and several injured in the operation so far,” he added. The local journalists were also taken to Saidu Sharif airport and shown seized explosive material the militants were using in terrorist attacks. Small pockets: The army, however, said small pockets of resistance still existed, which were preventing the army from completely restoring peace in Matta and Khawazakhela. “The army has taken control of hilltops overlooking the two areas where the militants’ presence was reported,” army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told Daily Times. Military authorities also regretted the imposition of curfew and cessation of mobile phone service but said such actions were necessary to restore law and order. Meanwhile, local residents said mobile phone service had been restored and curfew hours relaxed. “From 7am to 6pm, there was curfew relaxation in Mingora city and GT Road,” they said.

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India-Pakistan

Six killed, 15 injured by stray shells

2007-12-03

MIRANSHAH: Around six people, including four women and a child, were killed and more than 15 others people were injured when stray shells landed on their homes in Miranshah late on Saturday. The shells hit the homes during an exchange of fire between militants and security forces after the militants attacked the Banda checkpost. Inter Services Public Relation Army Director General Major General Waheed Arshad said that a shell hit the house of Saladar Khan killing a six-year-old boy and three women of the family. Two men were also killed when shells landed on their houses. Gen Arshad said that all the injured people had been shifted to a hospital in Miranshah, adding that five of them were rushed to a hospital in Peshawar due to their critical condition. A large number of people have started to flee from Miranshah and Mir Ali suburbs. Meanwhile, the security forces pushed back armed tribesmen who attacked the Tungai area of Kurram Agency, according to a private television channel.

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India-Pakistan

Militants vacate trenches in several areas of Swat

2007-11-28

Militants in several parts of the restive Swat district vacated their trenches on hilltops and disappeared on Tuesday, Daily Times has learnt. Rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah’s loyalists had established trenches in the Dherai, Kooza Bandai, Bara Bandai, Nangolai, Charbagh, Khwazakhela and Pir Kalay areas of Swat. However, they vacated the areas on Tuesday morning and their current whereabouts are unknown, residents said. "We dunno. They jes' lit out like their salwar kameez wuz on fire!" Locals believe the Taliban have fled the area under intense pressure from the military, which had been using artillery and gunship helicopters to target their positions in several areas of Swat and Shangla districts for the last few days. Meanwhile, Swat Media Centre spokesman Amjad Iqbal told journalists that a local resident had killed Taliban commander Khan Khitab, as people of the area were tired of the Taliban. Iqbal claimed 50 militants had been killed in the ongoing military operation over the past three days. His claim could not be confirmed from an independent source, while purported Taliban spokesman Sirajuddin was also unavailable for comment. One of the 50 deaders, perhaps? That'd be pleasant. Local residents and state television, meanwhile, reported that Fazlullah’s pirate radio station had shut down. Meanwhile, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told Dawn television that troops had taken control of Najia Top, a stronghold of Fazlullah. He estimated the insurgents’ strength in the area at about 1,000, reported AFP. Local residents and state television, meanwhile, reported that Fazlullah’s pirate radio station had shut down. Also on Tuesday, the Swat administration announced a four-hour relaxation in curfew to let the local residents fulfill basic necessities of daily life.

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