ID :
13209
Mon, 07/21/2008 - 10:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/13209
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15 militants killed in Pak crackdown on Taliban
Rezaul H Laskar Islamabad, July 21 (PTI) Pakistan's army Sunday said it had killed 15 militants and detained 60 others in a five-day operation in the country's troubled northwest as the Taliban issued a fresh threat to execute 29 hostages if the militaryaction was not halted.
Security forces used mortars and helicopter gunships to pound militant hideouts in nearby areas after the Taliban attacked a paramilitary fort in Torawari area of Hangu injuring three Frontier Corps personnel overnight, officialswere quoted as saying by TV channels.
Gunships also struck Taliban positions at three places in Kurram tribal agency, which borders Hangu district. Reportssaid a civilian was injured in the attacks.
The army has deployed 1,500 troops backed by artillery, tanks and gunship helicopters for the operation, codenamed Zarb-e-Kaleem, launched on Wednesday after the Taliban killed15 paramilitary personnel at Zargari in Hangu.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said that 15militants had been killed and 60 arrested so far.
Five security personnel were also wounded in thefighting, he told Geo News channel.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Omar told reporters on phone that the militants would start killing 29 government employees and security personnel abducted by them if the N.W.F.P. government fails to recall the army from Hangudistrict.
The Taliban took the hostages last week before the N.W.F.P. government called in the army for an operation inHangu.
Omar said a jirga headed by Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud would set a date for executing the hostages one-by-one if the government failed to meet thedemands of the militants.
The hostages are in a "safe place", he said.
Meanwhile, N.W.F.P. Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti has convened a grand jirga or a meeting of tribal elders in the provincial capital of Peshawar to find ways to end the violence in Hangu. It will also meet the local administrationof Hangu.
A grand jirga of 17 tribes of Aurakzai Agency, which borders Hangu district, also assured the N.W.F.P. government yesterday of its full support in case the Taliban used theirterritory against the security forces.
The tribes promised not to provide shelter to foreigners and to fight them if they tried to disturb law andorder in the area.
The jirga decided that any tribesman providing shelter to the Taliban would be punished under the Frontier Crimes Regulation for activities against the government. PTI
Security forces used mortars and helicopter gunships to pound militant hideouts in nearby areas after the Taliban attacked a paramilitary fort in Torawari area of Hangu injuring three Frontier Corps personnel overnight, officialswere quoted as saying by TV channels.
Gunships also struck Taliban positions at three places in Kurram tribal agency, which borders Hangu district. Reportssaid a civilian was injured in the attacks.
The army has deployed 1,500 troops backed by artillery, tanks and gunship helicopters for the operation, codenamed Zarb-e-Kaleem, launched on Wednesday after the Taliban killed15 paramilitary personnel at Zargari in Hangu.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said that 15militants had been killed and 60 arrested so far.
Five security personnel were also wounded in thefighting, he told Geo News channel.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Omar told reporters on phone that the militants would start killing 29 government employees and security personnel abducted by them if the N.W.F.P. government fails to recall the army from Hangudistrict.
The Taliban took the hostages last week before the N.W.F.P. government called in the army for an operation inHangu.
Omar said a jirga headed by Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud would set a date for executing the hostages one-by-one if the government failed to meet thedemands of the militants.
The hostages are in a "safe place", he said.
Meanwhile, N.W.F.P. Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti has convened a grand jirga or a meeting of tribal elders in the provincial capital of Peshawar to find ways to end the violence in Hangu. It will also meet the local administrationof Hangu.
A grand jirga of 17 tribes of Aurakzai Agency, which borders Hangu district, also assured the N.W.F.P. government yesterday of its full support in case the Taliban used theirterritory against the security forces.
The tribes promised not to provide shelter to foreigners and to fight them if they tried to disturb law andorder in the area.
The jirga decided that any tribesman providing shelter to the Taliban would be punished under the Frontier Crimes Regulation for activities against the government. PTI
