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Militants capture Kohat Tunnel

* Security forces continue advance, plan operation to recapture tunnel
* 20 militants killed
* Convoy escapes blast

By Manzoor Ali Shah

SPINA THANA: Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said on Saturday that the Kohat Tunnel was “in the control of militants”.

Reports, however, said the tunnel – also known as the Pak-Japan Friendship Tunnel – was only “attacked and damaged” by militants. The extent of damage to the tunnel was, however, not clear. Security experts feared the Taliban could blow up the tunnel, and with the tunnel under their control, Peshawar is disconnected from southern districts and traffic is being diverted via Rawalpindi.

Operation planned: Abbas said security forces were “progressing” and operation for the control of the tunnel would be launched any time soon.

Also on Saturday, gunship helicopters took to the sky to pound suspected Taliban positions in the mountains near Darra Adam Khel and Kohat district, eyewitnesses and the military spokesman said.

Security officials said the militants had taken position at hilltops overlooking Darra and Kohat and were using long-range rockets to target civilians in Kohat city.

20 militants killed: A political administration official, asking not to be named, told Daily Times that around 20 militants were killed in Saturday’s clash. Abdullah Halafi, a self-proclaimed spokesman for a Taliban group, phoned the Daily Times office in Peshawar and said the militants “would launch attacks on government forces in the Khyber Agency” if attacks on their comrades in Darra did not stop.

Convoy escapes blast: Meanwhile, a convoy of army vehicles escaped casualties when a remote-controlled bomb went off in the Badabher area near Peshawar, eyewitnesses said, adding the soldiers opened fire seconds after the blast and blocked the highway for a few hours. People were seen fleeing the Darra area as military action there continued for the second consecutive day.

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