31 insurgents killed in Khyber, Orakzai
30 January, 2013
BARA/KALAYA: Some 31 insurgents were killed and many others injured respectively in shelling and bombing by security forces and jet fighters in Khyber and Orakzai tribal agencies, official sources said on Tuesday. The sources said security forces continued artillery shelling from the FC Mishtari Camp in Bazaar Valley as well as strikes by jet fighters against the militants' bases in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency on security forces hit the positions of banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in Nakai area of Malikdinkhel and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Wochowane, Dwatoy and Bragat areas in Kukikhel. Official sources claimed that 23 militants were killed and several others injured in the shelling. They said that a number of insurgents' hideouts were busted and huge cache of arms and ammunition including depots of ration destroyed in the operation. However, the human loses could not be verified from either militants or local people. Meanwhile, clashes between government-backed Ansarul Islam (AI) and TTP entered the fifth consecutive day. The fighters of AI carried out attacks on the positions of TTP located on the border of Maidan with Kukikhel and Mamozai area of Orakzai Agency. Local sources said the TTP offered tough resistance to AI to keep hold of the captured positions. Sources in the AI claimed to have recaptured a hilltop known as Khyber Sangar from TTP in the west of Maidan and laid siege to Drey Stani in north of their controlled part of the valley. Local sources said besides Drey Stani, TTP still held three hilltops in Adamkhel area of Maidan bordering Arghinjo and Mirkalamkhel areas in upper Orakzai Agency. However information on casualties could not be gathered due to failure of telephone lines in the valley. A commander of AI based in Peshawar demanded the government and security forces to fix telephone lines as soon as possible, otherwise the local tribesmen and rest of the world would not be able to get the real picture of the ongoing conflict in the far flung Tirah valley. Meanwhile, eight militants were killed in the jetfighters' strikes in Mamozai tehsil in upper Orakzai Agency on Tuesday. The sources said the jetfighters blitzed four sanctuaries of the militants in Ublana, Mirqalamkhel and Arghanjo villages in the Mamozai subdivision at 2pm that continued for half an hour. Eight militants were killed and their four hideouts were destroyed in the air strikes, the sources said, adding the residents of Arghanjo, Mirqalamkhel and Jandary Killay started leaving the area.People were forced to migrate to safer places on foot as there were no vehicles for transportation due to shortage of fuel in Mamozai tehsil. End.
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