PESHAWAR: At least 19 suspected militants were killed and four security forces personnel, including a captain, lost their lives during a gunbattle near the Pak-Afghan border on Saturday.
The ground forces surrounded a group of fleeing militants in Mangroti area in Shawal valley of North Waziristan and killed 19 of them during an intense exchange of fire, the army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
The ISPR said that the deceased security personnel have been identified as Capt Umair, Havaldar Hakim, Sepoy Hameed and Sepoy Rashid. On February 24, Pakistan Army launched its final phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb to go after the terrorists still holed up in the strategic valley. At the commencement of the final phase, Army chief General Raheel Sharif expressed his complete satisfaction over the gains and effects of the operation and acknowledged the resolve of troops to eliminate terrorists from their leftover sanctuary.
Most areas of the erstwhile safe haven of homegrown and foreign militants have been purged. Tens of thousands of tribesmen displaced by fighting have started returning to their homes in the areas cleared by the military.
Shawal valley in Dattakhel tehsil is situated on the confluence of borders between North and South Waziristan tribal regions. It also shares a border with neighbouring Afghanistan and thus offers a safe transit for terrorists.
Separately, Pakistan Air Force jets pounded militants’ hideouts in the northwestern tribal belt close to the Afghanistan border and killed at least 15 Taliban insurgents, security officials said. The strikes were carried out in the Maizer area of the Dattakhel region in North Waziristan tribal district, which is considered as the last bastion of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants. “As many as four hideouts were destroyed in the strikes this morning. Among the 15 killed militants six were Uzbeks,” a security official in the area said.
Another senior security official in Peshawar confirmed the strikes but did not give a death toll.
“The air strikes have increased in the last few days and we have hit the targets today also. But I can’t give a collective toll because we have hit the hideouts many times during the last few days and the number of dead militants may vary,” he said.
