Over 50 militants killed as troops seize key Buner town
By Abdur Rehman Abid
Wednesday, 29 Apr, 2009 | 04:42 PM PST | The army is facing stiff resistance in Ambela...militants are using the area people as human shields, Athar Abbas said. — Reuters Taliban refuse to leave Buner completely
Taliban still occupying parts of Buner: FC Media Gallery
Fate of Buner? DAGGAR: More than 50 militants have been killed in the ongoing military operation in Buner, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a press conference on Wednesday.
One security official was also killed during the fighting, while 18 Frontier Corps personnel were recovered from the Taliban, Abbas said.
The army is facing stiff resistance in Ambela as militants have taken the area people hostage and are using them as human shields, he said, adding that security forces are trying to avoid collateral damage.
Militants are still occupying three police stations in Buner whereas security forces have destroyed two militant ammunition dumps, he said.
The District Coordination Officer (DCO) was airlifted to Daggar to take control of Buner's administration.
Athar Abbas also said the media should not report anything which jeopardises operational security or the lives of soldiers.
Troops took Daggar, the main town in Buner (60 miles northwest of Islamabad), on Wednesday after being dropped by helicopters behind Taliban lines on the second day of the offensive.
A military spokesman said troops had secured Daggar and ‘airborne forces have linked up to police and Frontier Constabulary’ there. ‘A link up with ground forces is in progress.’
Taliban fighters held the entrances to the valley, but they risk being caught between security forces at their front and rear after the successful airdrop.
Residents saw troops rappel down ropes from helicopters outside Daggar while firing and explosions were also heard intermittently.
‘We saw a helicopter dropping troops on the hills early this morning. It came about seven or eight times,’ said Arshad Imran standing in the town's central bazaar. ‘We hear sound of explosions off and on and we can see helicopters flying over the mountains.’
The military estimated some 500 militants were in the Buner valley of the North West Frontier Province and that it might take a week to clear them out.
Jet fighters and helicopters gunships provided air support for army and paramilitary troops leading the offensive on Tuesday.
Earlier, at least 60 personnel of police and the Frontier Constabulary were taken hostage by Taliban in Buner’s Pir Baba area as security forces launched the operation in the district on Tuesday and pounded suspected militant hideouts in some of its border areas.
A convoy of security personnel entered Buner from Mardan after imposition of curfew. Security forces set up a checkpoint on a road at Babajee Kandow, around six kilometres into Buner.
Militants earlier took control of the Pir Baba area, including a police station, and took hostage 43 personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and 17 policemen. The SHO of the police station, Bukht Raj, was among the hostages.
Two policemen who were out of the police station at the time of the attack told Dawn that militants had set up their headquarters at a mosque adjacent to the shrine of Pir Baba and the hostages were taken there.
Official sources said the operation had been launched to flush out Taliban who had entered Buner on April 4 from Swat. They took control of the district a week later.
Following negotiations led by Sufi Mohammad, chief of the banned TNSM, militants had agreed on April 24 that outsiders would pull out and only local Taliban would stay in Buner.
However, officials believed that the militants had backed out of their commitment and they were present in Buner in a large number.
Planes and helicopters attacked suspected hideouts of militants in Kalil Kandow, Rajgalai, Speerkee, Balookhan, Karakar, Naveedand, Sar Malang Baba, Baba Jee Kandow and Maskeepur Ambela. The attacks started at about 12:30 p.m.
Most of the areas are along Buner’s border with Mardan, Malakand and Swat. An official said the district headquarters hospital in Daggar had not received any body or injured person till late into the night.
According to witnesses, militants fired at helicopters with heavy machineguns. Soldiers of the Frontier Corps entered the district through Ambela Pass along with Frontier Constabulary personnel amid shelling and launched a search in the mountainous region of Baba Jee Kandow.
A large number of Taliban who had taken control of the bazaar at Pir Baba forced people to stay indoors. Witnesses saw Taliban load a pick-up truck with weapons outside the police station.
Amidst a tense situation, people prepared to leave areas where Taliban were present. District police chief Abdur Rashed Khan said curfew had been imposed in Buner for an indefinite period.
Security forces continued their operation in Maidan area of Lower Dir district. Militants snatched a vehicle of the National Logistics Cell and took eight employees hostage, sources said.
Despite heavy artillery shelling, they continued patrolling Gulabad area of Adenzai tehsil. A militant ‘commander’, Arshad, said the hostages would be freed only if the company handed two more vehicles to Taliban. He said Taliban would not stop their activities in Adenzai until the military operation was stopped.
A heavy exodus of people continued from villages of Maidan towards Odigaram and Sar Lara Samar Bagh on Tuesday. Hundreds of families crossed the Odigaram Bridge and Sar Lara hilltop.
The displaced people were facing problems because of lack of transport, food and shelter and they had no idea where to go.
However, a military officer claimed that security forces had gained complete control over Maidan tehsil. He said militants had been involved in kidnappings, target killings and other crimes.
Talking to journalists by phone, a militant commander, Hafeezullah, threatened to attack all leaders of the ruling Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party if the government did not end the operation by Wednesday.
He claimed that local Taliban leader Maulvi Shahid was alive and he would soon appear before the media. Refuting the government’s claims about Taliban casualties, he said only four of his colleagues had been killed.
He said security forces had again attacked Maulvi Shahid’s house on Tuesday, but he was not home.
Locals said two villagers killed by shelling on Monday, cab driver Fazal Malik of Kotkay and Manda Akbar Khan of Dokrai, were buried in the night. They alleged several schools were damaged when security forces shelled the area.
DAWN.COM | NWFP | Over 50 militants killed as troops seize key Buner town