The military is planning an operation to take the Sararogha Fort in South Waziristan Agency, which the Taliban abandoned after briefly taking control of it in a Wednesday siege, military officials said on Thursday. “Hopefully, it will be retaken by the troops tonight,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas told Daily Times on Thursday. Seven FC soldiers and 40 miscreants were killed when hundreds of militants stormed the paramilitary fort on Wednesday. The militants have, however, abandoned the fort since.
Fifteen soldiers are still missing after the rebel attack, AFP cited army sources as saying. An ISPR statement said five soldiers missing after the clash had reached a nearby village.
Saklatoi Fort attacked: An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said miscreants fired several rockets and small arms at Ladha Fort in South Waziristan on Thursday. Security forces retaliated, but no loss of life or damage to property was reported.
AP reported Maulvi Muhammad Umar, a purported militant spokesman, as saying troops surrendered after 500 fighters surrounded the post. “We released them (the troops) under the spirit of Islam,” he said. “The Taliban have now hoisted their white flag at the fort.”
An army spokesman, however, immediately denied that the Saklatoi post had been evacuated. “I strongly contradict this news, this post is in our control,” said Major General Abbas in Islamabad.
Separately, three rockets fired at an air force base in Kamra on Thursday fell near a residential area, but caused no damage, the military said. Meanwhile, troops continued targeting militant hideouts in Sararogha, Khewra, Makeen, Barwand, Spinkai, Kotkai, Chagmalai, Saplatoi and other areas. Four citizens — a one-year-old baby, a girl and two men — were injured. They were taken to a North Waziristan hospital, where their condition was said to be stable.
No peace efforts till shelling stops: Meanwhile, Mehsud tribe elders on Thursday refused to facilitate peace efforts in South Waziristan Agency until “troops stop pounding areas”. A jirga, called by the political agent, spelled out their demands — that troops stop the artillery fire, the road leading to South Waziristan be opened and that ‘peaceful’ citizens picked up by the authorities be released. The elders were told that the political administration was in touch with senior military officials and the jirga would be called again after a positive response from them.