| This is the operation the Paks were pooh-poohing just a day or two ago... |
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| Camo turbans â now that's snazzy! |
âThe operation is on,â Lieutenant-Colonel Jamil Hassan, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps, told Reuters in Quetta. Helicopter gunships pounded hideouts in the Jindran, Tilli and Pir Mahmood areas of Kohlu district after FC personnel came under rocket attack in Kahan, some 250 kilometres east of Quetta, a security official told AFP. âSecurity forces and helicopters returned fire towards the mountains and later found the body of a tribesman lying near unfired rockets,â the official said. Former Kohlu nazim Nasibullah confirmed that six rockets had been fired at paramilitary forces early on Monday.
In a second incident, three Bugti tribesmen were killed when security forces traded fire with them near Sangseela village in Dera Bugti district, some 240 kilometres southeast of Quetta, the official told AFP. âThe firing is still continuing and both sides are using automatic weapons and rockets,â he said. Tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti said he had spoken to a tribal leader in Kohlu who told him about 30 members of the Marri tribe had been killed in helicopter strikes. âThe entire Dera Bugti area has been besieged, artillery has taken position and eleven helicopter gunships are roaming over our houses,â he told Online.
Maqbool Marri, a resident of Kohlu, told Daily Times by phone that dozens of civilians had been killed in fire from paramilitary forces and 40 people arrested in the Nisao, Janat Ali, Jhapar, Fazil Chapal, Kahan, Bhambhor and Talli areas. However, hospitals in Kohlu, Sui, and Sibi did not report any casualties.