PESHAWAR - Eight soldiers were killed in a clash with militants in restive northwest, officials said Wednesday, as security forces carried out a clearance operation.
“Eight soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) during fierce fighting and exchange of fire with terrorists,” a local security official based in Peshawar told AFP. He said that 21 militants were also killed.
This is second phase of Khyber operation named as Khyber-2.
The incident occurred in the Spin Qamar neighbourhood, near the Bara area of Khyber tribal district, as security forces carried out an operation to clear suspected militants.
Another security official also confirmed the incident.
In retaliation. 21 militants were killed and eight others sustained injuries when fighter jets pounded their hideouts in Aka Khel, a far-flung area of Tirah Valley, officials said.
The sources said Pakistani warplanes targeted hideouts of the militants and inflicted heavy losses on them. Eight militants got wounded in the airstrikes, the sources said. Four of their strongholds were also destroyed in the action, they added.
It is to be mentioned here that on October 16, the forces had launched a cleanup operation, Khyber One, against anti-social elements in Bara to eliminate insurgency.
Namaz-e-Janaza of eight martyred soldiers who embraced shahdat during a major clearance operation in Spinqamar area of Khyber Agency was offered late Wednesday night at Peshawar Garrison.
Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and other senior military officials attended their Namaz-e-Janaza.
Later, bodies of the martyred were sent to their ancestral towns where they will be buried with full military honour.
The COAS also visited CMH Peshawar and inquired about well being of the injured soldiers of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Khyber.
In a separate incident, two members of a peace committee have been injured in Gomal Zam area. One of them is stated to be in critical condition.
Pakistan has been battling militant groups in its semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004, after its army entered the region to search for Al-Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
In June the army began a long-awaited offensive against militant hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal area, after a bloody raid on Karachi Airport ended faltering peace talks between the government and the Taliban.
Pakistan’s army says it has killed more than 1,000 militants and lost 86 soldiers since the start of the operation.But the number and identity of those killed is difficult to verify as there is little regular media access to the conflict zones.