Pak captures Taliban stronghold

Islamabad, Oct. 25: Pakistan Army on Saturday captured a key Taliban stronghold in the Bajaur region bordering Afghan-istan as security official said over 1,500 militants had been killed in operations over the past two months.

Loisam, the Taliban forces’ main stronghold in the Bajaur fell to government troops after weeks of fighting as fresh violence in the region claimed 20 lives including six civilians in the adjoining Swat valley. Pakistan Army used helicopter gunships and heavy artillery to pound the militant hideouts overnight before wresting the key town. Bajaur is part of Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan and had become a haven for Taliban and Al Qaeda militants waging a battle on both sides of the border.

Military officials said Taliban fighters who were joined in by other foreign fighters had offered stiff resistance before the town was overrun. In Swat valley, six civilians were killed in a gunbattle with the local Taliban that erupted when residents off Matta sub-district resisted the entry of militants into the area.

There were also reports of tension in Mingora, Charbagh And Khwazakhela areas of the Swat valley after the Taliban barred women from visiting markets. Meanwhile, the inspector-general of the Frontier Corps, Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan, told a news conference in Khar, the main town of Bajaur agency, that more than 1,500 militants had been killed and 950 others, including foreigners, arrested during operations by security forces in the region.

The anti-militancy drive in Bajaur, codenamed "Operation Sherdil", was launched in mid-August.

—PTI

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1,500 rebels killed in ops

By OUR PAKISTAN CORRESPONDENT

Islamabad

Oct. 25: Over 1,500 militants have been killed by Pakistani forces in the Bajaur Agency during the two-month operation, the military said on Saturday. "During the operation over 1,500 militants were killed and some 73 troops were martyred (killed)," Major General Tariq Khan, the chief of paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) told reporters in Khar. He added, "Out of the troops who embraced martyrdom, 42 belonged to the Army and 31 were from the FC."