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26 killed in Tank fighting

* Police stations, paramilitary fort, banks damaged
* School head, brother abducted
* Local militant says attackers were Baitullah’s men

By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: At least 25 militants and a paramilitary soldier were killed in a six-hour gunbattle in Tank early on Wednesday. A curfew was imposed in the city and the civil administration asked the army for help in keeping the Taliban from taking control of the city.

“The (Taliban) attack was repulsed effectively,” NWFP IGP Sharif Virk told Daily Times. “Security has been beefed up and soldiers are patrolling the streets,” he said, adding that Tank had been “sealed to protect the residents” and a curfew had been imposed as a “precautionary” measure. Military helicopters were seen circling over the city.

The recent surge in violence began on Monday when police clashed with Taliban recruiters outside a private school and a police officer and a militant were killed. Intelligence sources said that Tank was under siege and no outsider was allowed to enter the city following reports that militants would make an attempt to enter the city on Wednesday night.

Tank District Police Officer Mumtaz Zarin said that security forces killed at least 25 militants when more than 200 Taliban soldiers attacked the city from all sides. “They attacked the city to avenge the killing of their colleague who died on Monday,” he said, adding that the militants used rockets and mortars when they attacked the city late on Tuesday night. “Reinforcements have reached Tank to increase the security level. The militants want to destabilise Tank to spread out to other areas of the province,” he said. “We could not sleep, there were so many rockets and mortars exploding from all sides,” Tank resident Noor Jan told Daily Times.

Police officer Noor Islam said that electricity supply to the city had been disrupted and the residents were staying indoors. Markets, schools, banks and government offices have also been closed, he added.

Islam told AFP that two unidentified bodies were found in the town’s bazaar, while two guards at local banks were also injured. Tank District Nazim Riaz Kundi blamed the instability in South Waziristan for the disturbance in Tank city. “We are on the border with South Waziristan where the security situation is not good,” Kundi told Daily Times by telephone.

A police source said that two police stations, a paramilitary fort and branches of the MCB, UBL, ZTBL and NBP were damaged in the Taliban attack. “Several banks were looted and their record was burnt,” he added.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that militants had abducted Farid Mehsud, principal of the Oxford High School where a local Taliban leader was killed in a clash with the police, and his brother late on Tuesday.

The principal had asked for police protection after local Taliban visited his school and others in a bid to recruit youth to fight jihad against NATO and US forces in Afghanistan.

A local militant told The Associated Press that they were questioning the principal to determine whether he had alerted police about the presence of their associates at the school.

“We will kill him if we find him guilty,” the militant said on condition of anonymity.

The militant who spoke to AP said those who fought the police in Tank were followers of Baitullah Mehsud. The man, who spoke by telephone, has regularly provided information on behalf of Mehsud.

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