WANA, Nov 10: An uneasy calm prevailed in parts of South Waziristan on Wednesday after security forces suspended air and ground attacks they had launched against militants on Tuesday, witnesses said.
Informed sources said the day-long operation had left 14 tribesmen dead. Inter-Services Public Relations chief Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, however, said the security forces had found only six bodies in the area.
The ISPR director-general did not disclose the identity of the dead.
"I can't say (anything) about the identity of the dead at this stage and the place where bodies have been shifted," he told Dawn by phone from Islamabad.
Independent sources said all the 14 people killed were locals, adding that militants had taken away eight bodies.
The sources said the militants were killed in Dila and Khadkhel areas in the Laddah subdivision when Cobra helicopters fired rockets on their positions.
There bodies were identified as those of Tanveer, Taj Mohammad and Maza Din, belonging to the Mehsud tribe.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that three more soldiers were killed in the area in a Tuesday night encounter between security forces and militants.
Residents said security forces had targeted five houses in Kotakai and Ghorlama areas. The dwellers had moved to other places before the attack, they added.
Main roads in the area were closed for vehicular traffic, causing inconvenience for the general public.
The Tribal Electric Supply Company on Wednesday restored supply to Wana, the scouts camp and other parts of South Waziristan. The power supply was suspended after a rocket hit an electricity tower.
A press release issued here on Wednesday said two feeders were damaged in the rocket attack carried out by militants from an undisclosed location on Sunday.
