ID :
14332
Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:20
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Three intelligence personnel killed in attack by Taliban
Islamabad, Jul 30 (PTI) Three Pakistani intelligence personnel have been killed in an attack by the local Taliban in the restive Swat valley in the North West FrontierProvince.
Gunmen opened fire at the pick-up truck in which the personnel were travelling in Matta sub-district late Monday evening. Two other intelligence personnel were injured in theattack.
Claiming responsibility for the attack, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters on phone that the action was carried out in "retaliation" forthe arrest of several Taliban fighters.
Security forces had subjected the arrested persons to torture and one of them was being treated in a local hospital, Khan alleged. He also claimed that the Taliban wanted to capture the intelligence personnel alive but that they werekilled "while offering resistance".
Local residents said the army later surrounded the area, imposed curfew and began a search operation to locate the assailants who carried out the attack. The area in whichthe attack occurred is considered a Taliban stronghold.
The slain men were identified as Subedar Sher Abbas Khattak, Lance Naik Malikdad and Lance Naik Riaz Ahmed. Theywere killed instantly when the militants opened fire.
A peace agreement signed by the local Taliban in Swat and the N.W.F.P. government has come under stress in recent weeks after the security forces carried out an operationagainst the militants in Hangu district.
The local Taliban have said they will retaliate against any operations by the security forces. With the Taliban openly claiming responsibility for Monday's attack, fresh questions have arisen about the fate of thetwo-month-old peace deal.
In a separate incident Monday, the local Taliban took over a P.T.V. booster in Barang sub-district of the semi-autonomous Bajaur tribal region. The political administration of Bajaur Agency said a jirga was negotiating with the Taliban to have vacated the compound where the TVbooster is located.
Earlier, the Taliban had partially damaged the same booster and it was being repaired when it was seized by the militants. PTI RHL
Gunmen opened fire at the pick-up truck in which the personnel were travelling in Matta sub-district late Monday evening. Two other intelligence personnel were injured in theattack.
Claiming responsibility for the attack, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters on phone that the action was carried out in "retaliation" forthe arrest of several Taliban fighters.
Security forces had subjected the arrested persons to torture and one of them was being treated in a local hospital, Khan alleged. He also claimed that the Taliban wanted to capture the intelligence personnel alive but that they werekilled "while offering resistance".
Local residents said the army later surrounded the area, imposed curfew and began a search operation to locate the assailants who carried out the attack. The area in whichthe attack occurred is considered a Taliban stronghold.
The slain men were identified as Subedar Sher Abbas Khattak, Lance Naik Malikdad and Lance Naik Riaz Ahmed. Theywere killed instantly when the militants opened fire.
A peace agreement signed by the local Taliban in Swat and the N.W.F.P. government has come under stress in recent weeks after the security forces carried out an operationagainst the militants in Hangu district.
The local Taliban have said they will retaliate against any operations by the security forces. With the Taliban openly claiming responsibility for Monday's attack, fresh questions have arisen about the fate of thetwo-month-old peace deal.
In a separate incident Monday, the local Taliban took over a P.T.V. booster in Barang sub-district of the semi-autonomous Bajaur tribal region. The political administration of Bajaur Agency said a jirga was negotiating with the Taliban to have vacated the compound where the TVbooster is located.
Earlier, the Taliban had partially damaged the same booster and it was being repaired when it was seized by the militants. PTI RHL
