Gunship helicopters destroy militant training camp, ammunition depot in Shawal valley
At least three security personnel were killed on Tuesday during a militant attack on a security check post in South Waziristan’s Ladha area.
According to reports, terrorists attacked a security check post in Ladha and opened fire, resulting in the demise of three security personnel; Jafar Hussain, Mohammad Ali and Arsalan Khan. The assailants escaped after the attack.
“Militants attacked with heavy weapons, including [Rocket Propelled Grenades] and machine guns. Forces replied to the attack we are checking for the militants’ casualties,” a security official told a foreign news agency.
On Monday, two security forces personnel, including a lieutenant colonel, were killed in an exchange of fire with militants in the Shawal valley, Pakistan’s military said in a statement. At least six militants were also killed in that exchange, the military said.
Both attacks were claimed by a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who the army has been battling in North Waziristan since it launched a full-scale military operation in the area in June last year.
“We will not let the army enter Shawal under any conditions,” Azam Tariq, a Taliban spokesperson, told the foreign agency on Tuesday, adding that dozens of Taliban fighters had been involved in the raids.
Ladha, once a stronghold of the Taliban, lies between Kaniguram and Makeen. It is the largest of the agency’s administrative sub-divisions in terms of population. The army had regained control of Ladha from the Taliban in 2009 during Operation Rah-e-Nijat. The region is mountainous and has several Taliban sanctuaries.
Meanwhile, gunship helicopters of the army aviation destroyed a terrorist training camp and ammunition depot in Gurbaz village of North Waziristan’s Shawal district, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The statement added that a number of suspected terrorists were also killed in air strikes.
FUNERAL PRAYERS OF SHAWAL MARTYRS OFFERED:
In the meanwhile, funeral prayers of Lt Col Faisal Malik and soldier Zohaib was offered in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
Rawalpindi Corps Commander Lt General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other high ranking civil and military officials attended the funeral prayers.
Lt Colonel Faisal Malik and soldier Zohaib embraced martyrdom during the clash with terrorists in Shawal on early Monday.
