MIRANSHAH/WANA: Two foreigners were among three militants killed on Friday after they ignored a signal to stop their vehicle at a checkpost in North Waziristan, as a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a military convoy in Tank district, killing himself and injuring five soldiers, officials said. The foreigners were identified as Uzbeks. Their bodies were flown to Miranshah for a DNA test, official sources told Daily Times.The militants were signalled to stop at Jalar checkpost, three kilometres south of Mir Ali town, but they did not, prompting an action from security forces. "The two foreign militants were killed instantly and the other injured militant died moments later. Their injured accomplice was taken into custody and is under treatment," the sources said.
Mir Ali town, according to local residents, is a stronghold of foreign militants and Uzbeks flushed out from Wana and surrounding areas of South Waziristan early this year, took shelter in the area. The military convoy came under attack on its way to Manzai from Tank city.
Meanwhile, security forces backed by gunship helicopters continued pounding targets of suspected militants in South Waziristan, after an ambush on a military convoy on Thursday. According to military sources, 15 militants and seven security personnel were killed in the clashes. "We have carried out heavy bombing of areas where militants were reported sheltering and attacking the security forces," the sources said.
Tribal sources in Jandola, main town on the border of South Waziristan, said big explosions were heard in the Chaghmalay and Sarwakai areas on Thursday night and Friday, adding that the security forces were using gunship helicopters and artillery against militants from Jandola base. Residents of Chaghmalay and Sarwakai were reported fleeing the areas, but the movement across Mehsud areas was almost impossible as all routes were either closed or risky to use.
A 21-member Mehsud peace jirga went to South Waziristan to hold talks with Mehsud militants, who kidnapped 15 paramilitary soldiers last week. MMA's MNA Maulana Mirajuddin is leading the jirga. He told Daily Times on Thursday that he was hopeful of the release of 15 Frontier Corps personnel, but Thursday clashes "concerned me".
"The jirga is meeting the kidnapers (appear to be tribal militants demanding release of their comrades from the government custody) at an undisclosed location in South Waziristan," sources in political administration of Wana said.
Agencies add: Militants attacked two security posts in the Tiarza area, about 20 km north of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan region, security officials in the area said. The security forces suffered no casualties and killed four of the militants, they said. The two Waziristan regions are near the Afghan border, where security officials say remnants of Al Qaida and Taliban are hiding. There has been a surge in attacks on the security forces in the tribal region since July, when militants ended a 2006 peace deal, accusing the government of violating the agreement by deploying additional troops at checkpoints in the region.