பாகிஸ்தான்: ராணுவமும் பயங்கரவாதிகளும் மோதல் 12 பேர் பலி

பாகிஸ்தான் ராணுவம் மிகத்தீவிரமாக இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகளை வேட்டையாடி வருகிறது.

ஹெலிகாப்டர் கன்ஷிப், ராணுவ தளவாடங்களோடு இஸ்லாமிய பயங்க்ரவாதிகளை சந்தித்த ராணுவம் 12 இஸ்லாமிய பயங்க்ரவாதிகளை கொன்றது.

Up to 12 militants killed in Pakistan's Waziristan
Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:05 PM IST

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces, backed by helicopter gunships, killed up to 12 Islamist militants in clashes in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border on Tuesday, the military said.

Pakistan has seen a massive increase in violence, especially in the border tribal areas, since security forces stormed the Lal Masjid, or Red Mosque, in the capital Islamabad earlier this month.

The Tuesday clashes broke out after militants riding on two vehicles tried to attack security forces in Khawaja Wali village, near Miranshah, North Waziristan's main town.

Government forces broke the attack and killed militants in return fire, the military said.

"The security forces also had the support of helicopters and they killed 10 to 12 militants," a military official who declined to be identified told Reuters.

The latest clashes in North Waziristan, known as a hotbed of support for al Qaeda-linked fighters, came a day after seven people were killed in militant attacks.

In other action on Tuesday, a roadside bomb blast struck a paramilitary vehicle in district of Tank, near the troubled South Waziristan tribal region, wounding six soldiers, two of them seriously.

Near Bannu, a settled district and gateway to North Waziristan, suspected militants kidnapped four paramilitary soldiers, police chief Dar Ali Khattak said.

Khattak said the security forces were travelling in a vehicle towards a check-post in a tribal area when intercepted by the militants.

More than 200 security force personnel and civilians have died in militant violence since the army attack on the Lal Masjid complex, a radical Islamist centre, on July 10. More than 100 people died in that assault, mostly those who had been holding out in the mosque.

At the weekend, dozens of heavily armed masked militants seized a shrine and mosque in Mohmand tribal region and named the mosque after the Lal Masjid.

The government has called a jirga or traditional council of tribal elders to persuade the militants to vacate the compound.

Adding to the tension in Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has been under increasing pressure from the United States, an important ally and aid source, to step up action against Taliban and al Qaeda elements in the border areas.

Movement of military and paramilitary convoys in and around those regions has become more frequent and check-posts have been reinforced, although the government has not linked the steps to Washington's demands.

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider)