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20 militants killed in Waziristan

By Haji Mujtaba

MIRANSHAH: Twenty militants were killed after security forces retaliated to a militant attack in North Waziristan on Friday morning, senior government official and military spokesman said.

A Frontier Corps trooper died and four army soldiers were wounded in the pre-dawn attack on the joint check-post of the paramilitary force and army. “Around 20 miscreants were killed,” North Waziristan Chief Administrator Zaheerul Islam told Daily Times.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said that foreign elements were among the killed militants. “We suspect foreign militants among the dead,” he told Daily Times. “Fifteen to 20 miscreants were killed.” The militants attacked the check-post in Dattakhel tehsil with rockets, killing the paramilitary man around 2.45am on Friday. The attack is the first after heavy clashes between security forces and miscreants in Miranshah early this month in which more than 100 militants were killed. Islam said the security forces also seized rocket launchers, rocket propelled grenades and kalashnikovs the militants left behind while fleeing. The exchange of fire between miscreants and security forces lasted for more than two hours, local residents said. They said that gunship helicopters also pounded suspected hideouts of miscreants after sunrise but the military spokesman said: “We used weapons security forces deemed necessary.” The attack on security forces came hours after President Pervez Musharraf told foreign militants in tribal areas to leave Pakistan or “we will eliminate them”.

Meanwhile, relaxation in curfew timing was extended allowing tribal people to move from 7am to 6pm but Miranshah bazaar looked deserted much earlier as fears of attack by militants prevailed. Daily Times correspondent in Wana said that miscreants attacked a security forces post in the Shakai Valley of South Waziristan Thursday evening. There were no casualties in the attack, official sources said on Friday.

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