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| India-Pakistan |
| 21 dead in Waziristan violence |
| 2006-01-11 |
| Security forces on Tuesday killed 14 militants after a rocket attack left seven soldiers dead shortly after Monday midnight, security officials said. The Tuesday casualties put the death toll of paramilitary troops at 15 since Saturday, as the government withdrew the January 15 deadline for tribesmen to handover suspected militants. Military sources told Daily Times that the deadline was withdrawn because militants had attacked security forces twice after tribal elders pledged to hand them over at a jirga (local court) in Miranshah on Saturday. Five paramilitary and two army troops were among the dead on Tuesday when suspected militants having links with Al-Qaeda and Taliban fired rockets and one of them hit the Sarbandki check-point, three kilometres east of North Waziristanâs regional headquarters Miranshah. Security forces at nearby checkpoints retaliated and the gunfight lasted for more than four hours, leaving 14 militants dead. Local Taliban commander Bilal was among the dead. A security official, requesting anonymity, told Daily Times that foreigners were among the killed militants. A tribal jirga between Utmanzai tribe elders and the political administration of the area decided to set up village committees to guard their areas against militants launching attacks on security forces and government installations. The jirga also decided to hold another jirga on January 16 to discuss the situation. Malik Khan Marjan, a tribal elder, said the recent attacks on security forces was a âsetbackâ to the peace process. He feared much bloodshed in coming days. The North Waziristan administration imposed a curfew, warning that anyone found in Miranshah streets after sunset would face âserious consequencesâ. Security forces also raided Mosaki village, 29 kilometres east of Miranshah, to hit suspected militants, but there was no reports of casualties. Reuters adds that residents said they believed a gunship helicopter had attacked the house of a religious scholar who supports Afghanistanâs Taliban guerrillas on Saturday. US authorities had denied their troops were involved, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a briefing on Monday, adding that authorities were investigating reports that a foreign helicopter had landed on the Pakistani side. Many Al Qaeda members have been given shelter in Waziristan, an area that stretches through rugged mountains and deserts, by militant sympathisers from conservative Pashtun tribes on both sides of the border. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |