KHAR/MIRANSHAH - At least 28 militants and four members of the Salarzai Qaumi Lashkar were killed while ten militants and four personnel of the security forces wounded on Saturday as the skirmishes with the militants based in Afghanistan continued for its second day in the border area of Batwar in Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur Agency, the northernmost tribal district of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
And in Khyber Agency, nine persons were killed and 17 others, including women and children, sustained injuries when mortar shells landed in the residential areas of Kamberabad, Sheikh Miro Baba, Shalober of Bara tehsil, official and local sources said.
Sources said scores of stray mortar shells fired by militants from unknown locations hit the houses of Karim, Jalil, Mohammad Rauf, Haji Sangheen and Karnail. Some of the deceased were identified as Irfanullah, Mohammad Arif, Abdullah, Sabir and Tariq. The houses were also destroyed in the strikes, sources said.
The wounded - including Abdul Jalil, Abdul Salam, Sabir Shah, Abdul Rehman, Ismail, Usman - were shifted to different hospitals of Peshawar where many of them were stated to be in a precarious condition, sources said.
On the other hand, people are fleeing their homes in North Waziristan to safer places amidst the speculations about a military operation in the area.
According to reports, the convoys of people were seen evacuating to safer places as speculations are rife about the military operation against the Haqqani network and other militant groups operating from the insurgents infested region. On the other hand, the political administration has refuted the reports about likely military operation in the region.
Similarly, Pakistan Army on Friday announced through a local radio that no operation would be launched in North Waziristan at any cost.
According to a statement issued from the army headquarters in Miranshah, troops were not in North Waziristan to start operation, but, had been deployed there to carry out uplift projects. The army advised the people not to listen to the speculations about operation and said the Western media was hell-bent to destroy Pakistan.“Neither Pakistan Army nor Isaf will be allowed to launch operation in North Waziristan.”
The statement further stated that the people of North Waziristan were patriot who had rendered so many sacrifices.
And in Mohmand Agency, two explosions rocked the Ghari area of Tehsil Safi, in which one security personnel sustained injuries.
According to security forces, two security personnel were patrolling on foot in the area when two explosive devices went off with big bang, injuring one security personnel.
The injured was shifted to hospital for medical treatment. The security forces cordoned off the entire area and started search operation for hunting the culprits.
Sources in Khar said militants from across the border have entered once again the Pakistani area and attacked the border village of Batwar of the Salarzai tribe on Saturday morning.
“Dozens of armed militants, who had escaped from the area after the yesterday’s action by the forces, have re entered the area and attacked the village and the posts of the Salarzai Qaumi Lashkar with heavy weapons,” residents of the area said.
They said the attackers had established dozens of posts in the mountains and targeted the houses of the locals and posts of the peace committee.
“Hundreds of volunteers and personnel of the security forces, who had been on alert for a quick response, have retaliated with heavy gun fire on the posts of the militants as a result at least 28 militants were killed while ten others were wounded,” an official of the local administration told reporter.
He said at least 15 attackers were arrested while several hideouts and posts of the militants were destroyed during the action continued from 9 am till 5 pm.
The official said that four volunteers of the Salarzai Qaumi Lashkar - Zahirulalh, Ihsanullah, Imran and Khan Wali were killed while four personnel of the security forces - Maher Gul, Kifayat, Mohammad Khan and Sher Bahadur – received wounds.
According to the local official, the forces and volunteers had started moving towards the borders areas and had sieged the militants.
“The forces have taken over the control of the area after a successful operation against the attackers and several new posts have been established in the different parts of the border region,” the official said.
Meanwhile, dozens of locals have vacated their homes and shifted to the safe areas of the region.
Bajaur Agency is a tribal region near the Afghan border. The military has recently launched offensive there against the Al-Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban, considered as biggest security threat to the country.
Earlier on Friday, two peace militiamen were killed and five people, including two women, sustained wounds after the Pakistani Taliban based in Afghanistan stormed a village in the Salarzai area.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the responsibility for the attack. Several militants were stated to be killed when Salarzai Qaumi Lashkar (peace militia) and the security forces fought off the onslaught.
Officials said: “More than 100 armed militants attacked Batwar village. They took over several houses and started firing at the peace militia posts.”
“The attackers held hostage several residents. Peace volunteers rushed to the site and launched a counterattack,” Jandol Khan, a local, said. He said the security forces backed the volunteers while gunship helicopters pounded militant posts. “The fight lasted for more than 10 hours,” he added.
The agency administration did not confirm the death toll of the clash while the sources said two volunteers of the peace militia were killed and five wounded in the fight. The injured were named as Waliat Khan, Zahir Khan, Mujahid Khan, Rabia Bibi and Zalikha. They were shifted to the agency headquarters hospital where the condition of two wounded is stated to be critical.
Claiming the attack, TTP spokesperson Ihsanullah Ihsan said the Taliban carried out the onslaught. “Taliban are responsible for the attack and several volunteers have been taken hostage during the attack,” he told this reporter by phone from an undisclosed location. Ihsan said that such attacks will continue until the people abandon support to the government.
The residents said scores of villagers have migrated to safer place. “We have seen a large numbers of local families leaving their native village and going to the safe spots in the region,” the locals said.
The cross-border attacks are frequent due to the lawlessness in the border areas of the war-torn country of Afghanistan. Pakistan has, time and again, made complaints to Afghanistan and the US to take notice of such assaults.