At least 20 suspected militants – including a key commander of banned Lashkar-e-Islam – were killed and several others injured Sunday as jet fighters targeted alleged militant hideouts in Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency. Artillery and mortar fire supported the air strikes.
The areas targeted were said to be the main operational terror centers of the banned outfits. Official sources said that the militants’ hideouts in Sipah, Malakdin Khel, Nalan Sur Kas areas of Bara were targeted in the fresh attacks, in which five militant hideouts were destroyed.
Recently, a clash occurred in Sipah area of Bara tehsil where Operation Khyber I is underway. The operation was formally launched earlier this month. Sources had said that Khyber I’s main aim is to clear the areas from Bara up to the border of Tirah valley, following which a second phase of the operation would be launched.
Scores of families have been moving to safer places as the offensive against militant groups is picking up.
Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and foreign militants. These tribal regions are also home to religious extremist organisations including Al Qaeda.
The plains of Bara hold strategic significance for militant groups as they connect the agency to the outskirts of Peshawar. The area was being used by militants to put pressure on the provincial capital. In recent weeks, police and military posts in and around Peshawar have come under attack.
The key area also straddles the NATO supply line into Afghanistan.
Khyber also links several agencies to each other, serving as a north-south route within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The region has been long fought over by a mix of militant organisations, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Ansarul Islam and Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-e-Islam.
ZARB-E-AZB MARTYR LAID TO REST:
In the meanwhile in Badin, a soldier martyred in a clash with militants during ongoign Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waizristan Agency (NWA) was laid to rest with military honour on Sunday.
High officials of the Pakistan Army, former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza and a large number of locals of the area and adjoining villages attended the funeral prayers of the 36-year-old martyred soldier Muhammad Ismail.
The deceased has left behind a widow, four daughters and father.
Earlier this year in June, the army began an offensive against militant hideouts in NWA after a bloody raid on KarachiAirport which ended faltering peace talks between the government and the TTP.
NWA is a major TTP base. The US has long called for action against militant groups in NWA, who have used the area as a staging post for attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan Army says it has killed more than a thousand militants and lost 86 soldiers since the start of the operation.
But the toll and identity of those killed is difficult to verify because journalists do not have regular access to the conflict zones.
