dailytimes.com.pk
The Army took foreign reporters from Islamabad with it as “embedded journalists” to cover the operation.
Army action kills 12 Qaeda, Taliban
* 18 arrested in Waziristan operation
* Pakistani soldier killed
* Unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties
* No foreign troops or agencies involved: ISPR
By Iqbal Khattak
PESHAWAR: Pakistani forces killed 12 suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters on Thursday and arrested 18 in an operation in South Waziristan Agency that the military touted as a demonstration of commitment to the war on terror.
Military sources told Daily Times in Peshawar that gunship helicopters pounded suspected Al Qaeda hideouts while Pakistani troops blocked their escape routes. The killed were not identified, but most of them appeared to be foreigners. Two Pakistani troops were wounded by grenades and admitted to a hospital in Wana, the agency headquarters of South Waziristan. AFP reported that another soldier had been killed.
The operation targeted Anargul Kot, Salami Kot and Sakhi Kot in Baghar Kala close to Angoor Adda, the last Pakistani town before the border with Afghanistan. Military sources said 16 helicopters took part in the operation while more were on standby in Bannu. A tribal source in Wana told Daily Times there were civilian casualties as well. There were unconfirmed reports of up to 30 local tribal deaths.
The Army took foreign reporters from Islamabad with it as “embedded journalists” to cover the operation. The pre-dawn operation, thought to be the largest since the military was deployed in the tribal areas in December 2001, was completed late on Thursday and lasted 15 hours, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) DG Major General Shaukat Sultan said.
“Some of these guys got out of the houses and have gone into folds in the ground and into the trees. Our guys are trying to flush them out, but they are putting up very stiff resistance,” Major General Faisal Alavi told the ‘embedded journalists’ earlier, AFP and Reuters reports. A large cache of arms, mines and basic surveillance equipment was found in one of the rebel compounds.
Gen Alavi, commander of special forces in the area, said of the 18 captives, four appeared to be Al Qaeda and six Taliban. The eight others were not identified. Three of them were injured.
He said Pakistani troops had surrounded a compound late on Wednesday where they believed Al Qaeda fighters were hiding. He said about 40 militants had been seen crossing into South Waziristan carrying the bodies of fighters killed in clashes inside Afghanistan.
Major Sultan told AFP the operation was “against foreign elements who were most likely involved in attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan”. There was “a great possibility” that the Al Qaeda suspects were the people involved in attacks that killed a US soldier in Shkin on Monday, Gen Sultan said.
An ISPR statement said no foreign troops or agents were involved in the operation. “Being a frontline coalition partner in the war on terrorism, this operation manifests Pakistan’s commitment to eliminate terrorism in all its forms from her soil,” it said. |
