|
|
|
| 04 April 2004 | Sunday | 13 Safar 1425 |
Troops, tribesmen exchange fire: Convoy attacked in N. Waziristan
MIRAMSHAH, April 3: Pakistan troops and local tribesmen exchanged fire about 20 kilometres to the west of regional headquarters of North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday.
There were no casualties.
Officials in Miramshah were quick to downplay the fire exchange saying misunderstanding triggered the incident.
Locals said a convoy of the Pakistan Army on its way to Shawal area, about 200 km to the west of here, came under fire from a house in village Manzarkhel in Duttakhel tehsil.
The troops responded with heavy weapons and called in air support. Helicopter gunships immediately flew to the area. The fire exchange lasted about an hour, locals said, but caused no loss of life.
Authorities in the area rushed to the troubled spot and brought the situation under control. They later said that the fire had come from the house of one Karri, a wanted man whose abode had been demolished by the administration some times ago.
They claimed the Karri's son, mistaking the troops movement for a raid on their house, had taken up positions and fired.
Officials said that the troops reached Duttakhel safely without encountering any problems afterwards.
ISPR spokesman Maj-Gen. Shaukat Sultan denied troops had been involved in any fire incident in the area.
The troop movement is being seen as part of an impending operation in Shawal, a mountainous region with thick forests, widely considered to be one of the toughest areas to operate.
Officials said they had indications that foreign militants, who had fled the Kaloosha-II operation, could be hiding in the mountains.
Meanwhile, suspected militants fired a rocket on Tochi Scouts Fort in Mirali in North Waziristan at around 1.05am but caused no damage.
The sound of the explosion was heard in the surrounding area.
Authorities in the North Waziristan tribal region have given six days to tribes in the Shawal to deliver those responsible for killing an army officer and a soldier in an ambush last month.
The ultimatum to Kabulkhel, Janikhel and Bakakhel Wazir tribes that inhibit Shawal area was given as fresh troops backed up by heavy weaponry and helicopter gunships arrived in the regional headquarters, Miramshah, on Friday.
Fata Secretary (security) Brig Mehmood Shah described the troop movement as a routine administrative affair.
Brig Shah,however, said the government was trying to encourage tribesmen to take on foreign militants and their local supporters by increasing the pressure on them.
Officials said they had served notices on the three tribes to surrender those who had ambushed an army convoy on its way to neighbouring South Waziristan to take part in the operation against foreign militants.
The ultimatum was delivered to the tribesmen at a jirga on Friday. The tribes have promised to raise a lashkar to trace the culprits and report to the authorities within the set deadline that expires on April 8.
The ambush on March 16 had left Maj Abdul Waheed and soldier Musa dead and wounded three others.
Elders from the tribes pledged to flush out foreign militants and report to authorities any suspicious activity.
The government has moved fresh troops into Miramshah. Locals said hundreds of trucks with troops streamed into the regional headquarters and Razmak from Bannu prompting fears of an impending operation in Shawal mountains.
Helicopter gunships hovered above to provide air cover to the troops to preempt any possible ambush or surprise attack by militants. The troops were armed and had brought with them heavy weaponry, witnesses said.
|
|
|
|