30 militants killed in Bannu: ISPR
Thursday, June 11, 2009
23 terrorists die in Swat
By our correspondent
BANNU: Thirty militants, including their senior commander Sher Alam, were killed and several others injured in the ongoing military operation against the Taliban fighters in the Frontier Region (FR) of Bannu on Wednesday.
Other reports quoting officials of Bannu district administration put the death toll of the militants in the daylong military action at 80.The Bannu administration clamped curfew in the district where all educational institutions, trade and commercial centres remained closed.
The government launched the military operation on Tuesday against Bakakhel and Janikhel tribes in FR Bannu, when the two tribes failed to hand over culprits involved in the kidnapping of students and teachers of the Cadet College Razmak.
Twenty militants were killed in the first day of the military action. Military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, when contacted by telephone, told The News that 30 militants were killed and several others injured. He said the dead included a senior militant commander.
The military spokesman said several hideouts of the militants had been destroyed in both the areas. He said the operation against the militants would continue till all the terrorists were eliminated and the area was cleared of them.
Local officials in Bannu said six Army gunship helicopters were seen flying from the Bannu Cantonment and bombing suspected hideouts of the Taliban militants in Janikhel and Bakakhel areas.
Also, security forces fired artillery shells from the Bannu Cantonment towards the militants’ positions in the two troubled towns. Officials in Bannu said almost 90 per cent residents of the two towns had left their homes for safer places in North Waziristan, Bannu city and Lakki Marwat district.
Meanwhile, a local resident of Muslimabad town was shot dead by security forces for allegedly violating the curfew. He was identified as Pargul Daraz, son of Amin Khan. His body was later handed over to his relatives.
The authorities relaxed the curfew duration from 12 noon to 4 pm that enabled the residents to buy essential items from the markets.Due to the curfew and fighting, the main Bannu-Miramshah Road also remained closed for all kinds of traffic ...
... Security forces also secured Gat Khela and Jawar area of Buner. The ISPR said from 600 to 800 terrorists have reached Janikhel, which falls in Frontier Region of Bannu. “Janikhel is the staging area of all the militants operating in DI Khan, Bannu, Kohat and Peshawar and so far 600 to 800 terrorists have reached there from Miramshah and Razmak.
The ISPR said the terrorists were planning to strike at different places in the NWFP. According to reports, security forces have engaged suspected terrorist locations at Janikhel with heavy fire and clearance operation in the area of Zaidi Akbar Khan is in progress.
30 militants killed in Bannu: ISPR