 Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said on Friday that at least 11 Pakistan Army and paramilitary personnel including a major had been killed while 25 to 30 militants had also been killed in two days of fighting in North Waziristan Agency. He told BBC that six soldiers were killed on Thursday and five on Friday and that nine including a major belonged to the Pakistan Army while two personnel belonged to the Frontier Corps. He also said the heaviest fighting took place at Khati Kalla village near Miranshah, Online reported. Pakistani F-7 fighter jets and attack helicopters pounded militant positions in the Khati Kalla area. âThe militants are still resisting the army while the operation continues,â Brig Shahjahan Ali Khan told Daily Times. The report also said a military attack helicopter killed a civilian on Friday morning.  Brig Shahjahan said âcommunication interceptsâ had suggested âheavy casualties on the militant sideâ.
| Heavy casualties is good... |
âWe canât give the exact number of militant casualties at the moment, but a large number of them appear to have been killed,â he added. Intelligence sources said Khati Kalla was the area of Maulana Sadiq Noor whom the Peshawar corps commander said was âwanted for involvement in terrorismâ. Sources said the âstrong resistanceâ being put up by the militants could be due to the presence of foreign fighters. âLocals canât put up such strong resistance. Our South Waziristan experience says that such strong resistance can only be put up by foreigners and the way they have resisted may suggest the presence of a high value target,â they added. However, ISPR spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said there were no reports of any high value targets in the area. |