26 Taliban, 2 soldiers killed in Orakzai

* Security forces occupy important heights around Kambar Masi village
* 4 Taliban killed as they attack security checkpost in Swat

PESHAWAR/KALAYA/ PARACHINAR: Security forces on Thursday killed 26 Taliban, while two soldiers also died in clashes in Orakzai Agency, officials said.

Troops used heavy artillery to target suspected insurgent bases in two villages in the agency. “At least 22 militants were killed in clashes with security forces which targeted hideouts of terrorists in Mishti Mela village of Orakzai,” a Frontier Corps statement said.

“Two soldiers also embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and two others sustained injuries... the security forces also smoothly advanced and occupied important heights around Kambar Masi village,” it added.

Earlier on Thursday, a group of Taliban fighters attacked a security checkpost in Kabal town in Swat. “The security forces retaliated and killed four militants,” said Major Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, a spokesman for the Swat media centre.

Meanwhile, AFP quoted government official Jahanzeb Khan as saying a solider and 31 suspected Taliban were killed in Orakzai. Also, two intelligence officials said an attack on security forces occurred in a nearby district and involved Taliban groups hiding on both sides of a road. They said the area is controlled by Sadiq Noor, one of the few Taliban commanders known to operate in the region.

Separately, Reuters reported that 20 Taliban were killed in the clash in Orakzai. It quoted Muhammad Nauman, a government official in Orakzai’s main Kalaya town, as saying that the latest fighting broke out when the Taliban attacked a patrol in a village near the border with Khyber Agency.

“It was a fierce clash that lasted for about three hours and the militant attack was repulsed,” he said. agencies

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