Islamabad - Pakistani troops killed at least 20 Islamist
militants in running weekend battles in the volatile north-western
Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.
The fresh clashes took place close to Khar, the main town of the
militant stronghold region of Bajaur, where government forces have
launched a major offensive against the al-Qaeda terrorist network and
the Islamist extremist Taliban.
'Intense late Saturday encounters that continued through the night
left at least 20 miscreants dead while many more were injured,' a
local security official said on condition of anonymity.
Some troops were also wounded in the fighting, the official said
without giving any numbers.
Helicopter gunships and artillery pieces were also pounding
militant positions in Rashakai, Tang Khata and Loi Sam areas. Many
militant hideouts were said to have been destroyed in the attacks.
'Troops have secured the area around Rashakai and are now
continuing their advance,' said Major Murad Khan, an army spokesman
in the garrison town of Rawalpindi where the military had its
headquarters.
Clashes erupted in Bajaur early August when dozens of pro-Taliban
militants attacked a security checkpoint on a strategic hilltop in
Loi Sam, located some 15 kilometres west of Khar.
Security forces launched a massive operation to clear up the
region which has become a hotbed of hard-core militants. Bombing
raids and heavy artillery fire have so far killed hundreds of
insurgents.
Separately, a policeman died on Sunday when rebels opened fired on
a patrol unit in the north-western town of Bannu. One attacker was
also killed when police returned fire.
Meanwhile, authorities on Sunday reopened a key tunnel linking
Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), with a
strategic garrison town of Kohat.
The 1.9-kilometre tunnel was closed to traffic last month after
militants carried out a car bombing on a paramilitary camp and also
destroyed at least two bridges on the highway connecting NWFP with
central and southern parts of the country.
'Cars and light transport vehicles are being allowed to use the
tunnel during daytime,' Khan said, adding that the tunnel would not
be open to traffic at night until the security situation improved.
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