|
Would-be suicide bombers killed
PAKISTANI troops have killed at least 18 militants including six would-be suicide bombers during an ongoing offensive against Taliban insurgents in northwest Pakistan.Gunship helicopters were called in after intelligence and locals said a suicide attack mastermind was present in Charbagh town in the Swat valley, an area the army previously said had been emptied of militants. "At least six would-be suicide bombers were killed in the shelling by gunship helicopters, the same place was being used as launching pad for training the suicide attackers," an army official said. A military official in Mingora, the main town in Swat and 20 kilometres from where the air raid was carried out, confirmed the strikes in the Mangaltan area of the town and the death toll, adding several militants were also wounded. Separately, the bullet-riddled bodies of six suspected Taliban rebels were found in a village in Swat valley eight kilometres from Mingora, police said. "Six badly mutilated bodies were found from two different places at Odigram," Ghulam Farooq, a senior police official said, adding that the bodies had bullet wounds. It was not clear who had killed them. Earlier this month, 18 suspected militants turned up dead in Swat under similar circumstances. A military official said that since July almost 200 bodies of militants and some civilians had been found in the region. Posted by: tipper 2009-08-29 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=277760 |