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Forces clear Khyber, Tirah is next

* Paramilitary troops face no resistance
* Raze Ansarul Islam building during operation
* Lashkar-e-Islam chief cautions supporters against fighting govt forces
* Militant spokesman claims operation launched at US behest
* FC chief hints this will not be only operation against militants
* Officials say Swat region could be next

BARA: Soldiers backed by armoured vehicles retook control of Bara town in the Khyber Agency on Sunday, and prepared to advance to other areas in the district, including the Tirah Valley.

An official said that Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) chief Mangal Bagh had moved to the remote Tirah Valley before the launch of the government’s offensive, Reuters reported.

No resistance: The second day of the NWFP government’s operation against militancy ended without any resistance, as the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) troops continued their advance into the tribal region near Peshawar. In Bara, the situation was completely calm, as Bagh had directed his supporters against fighting government forces.

“We’re peaceful and giving way to the security forces; we are not going to fight,” said Mangal Bagh’s 16-year-old son Tayeb while standing near the debris of his razed house. He told Daily Times that around 200 security personnel had demolished his family’s home with bombs.

Local official Muhammad Siddiq Khan said the FC had also encountered no resistance as it moved into areas outside Bara, AP reported. An AFP photographer said that troops had setup sandbag checkpoints after retaking control of Bara.

Muhammad Ilyas, a bodyguard of Mangal Bagh, confirmed that the LI forces had been strictly directed against fighting government troops by “amir sahib”.

AI building: During the operation’s second day, security forces razed several buildings, including the Mehboob Markaz, the Tayab, Misri and Gud Malang centres and a private jail. A security official told AFP that soldiers also blew up a building belonging to the Taliban-linked group Ansarul Islam (AI).

However, FATA Additional Secretary Habibullah Khan declined to comment on the target of the operation. “This operation is not against a particular individual or group,” he told reporters when asked if the operation was targeting Mangal Bagh and the LI. He said that no one would be allowed to run a parallel government.

The 5,000-troop contingent of FC soldiers that launched the operation on Saturday was supplemented with a fresh deployment of 400 troops and 20 vehicles on Sunday.

US interference: Also on Sunday, Muslim Khan, a militant spokesman in Swat, suggested the government had launched the operation at the behest of the United States.

“On the one side they are holding peace talks and on the other side they are breaking peace agreements and then carrying out operations against tribesmen,” he told Dawn television, AP reported.

Another operation: Meanwhile, Major General Alam Khattak, head of the FC, hinted that the operation in Tirah Valley would not be the only operation against militants and other officials said the Swat region could be next. Khattak also said that the operation could continue for up to five more days.

On Saturday, the first day of the latest operation, troops demolished the house and headquarters of LI chief Mangal Bagh. Bagh’s group has been accused of robbing vehicles on the Khyber Pass, the main supply route for international forces in Afghanistan, although officials said his men were not responsible for cross-border attacks.

His followers had, however, threatened Peshawar, burning CD and barbershops deemed un-Islamic and carrying out several kidnappings, the officials added, AFP reported.

According to NNI, army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said that the operation would quickly rid the region of militants. daud khattak/agencies

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