At least 40 militants and four soldiers have been killed in clashes between security forces and militants in scattered areas of Khyber, Orakzai and Kurram agencies over the past week, an official said on Sunday.
Twelve soldiers were also injured in the military action, which started on March 12, against the militants from the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) – led by warlord Mangal Bagh – in Sepah area of Bara tehsil.
However, he said the action against the terrorists in other parts of Bara will continue.
He said 25 militants were killed in action in Sepah and several militant compounds were also destroyed.
The official said the security forces’ action was focused on those elements who were involved in recent terrorist acts including suicide attack on senior police officer Kalam Khan, on a funeral in Badhaber and an explosion at a bus stand on Kohat Road in Peshawar. More than 30 men, including senior police officer, were killed in these attacks.
As a result of the clashes and military action, a large number of civilians from various parts of Bara have abandoned their houses and migrated to peaceful parts of Peshawar and its surrounding areas.
The upper parts of Bara are also witnessing severe clashes between rival militant groups and security forces. The official also confirmed the killings of 18 militants in jet fighters strikes in scattered areas of
Upper Orakzai and Central
Kurram on Sunday.
The official said three dins of the militants were also destroyed.
Some 18,000 people fled their homes in Khyber in October last year amid fears of a fresh outbreak of fighting between the army and Islamist militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban. The country’s seven tribal districts near the Afghan border are rife with insurgents and are strongholds of Taliban and al Qaeda operatives. Militants have killed more than 4,800 people across Pakistan since government troops raided an extremist mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.
