Road opened in N. Waziristan: 50 foreigners among militants killed: ISPR
By Our Correspondent
MIRAMSHAH, Oct 11: Authorities on Thursday opened the Miramshah-Bannu road at the Esha checkpoint as a tense calm prevailed in North Waziristan after four days of heavy fighting between security forces and militants.
A 15-member jirga held separate meetings with the political and military authorities for a ceasefire.
The jirga headed by Maulvi Nek Zaman announced that the road had been reopened at the checkpoint and people could move in the area freely. Witnesses said movement of tribesmen to and from the tribal agency resumed after the road opened.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said elders from two villages close to Mirali had approached the security forces seeking protection from militants. It quoted the elders as saying that militants used their compounds which were ultimately targeted by security forces, causing collateral damage on civilians.
Militants are reported to have fired at a checkpoint near Miramshah in the evening. Troops retaliated, but no casualty was reported.
Two soldiers in a military convoy going from Miramshah to Bannu were injured in a landmine explosion in Bakakhel Frontier Region.
The convoy comprising 24 trucks was hit near the Bannu airport on Miramshah road.
APP adds: During the recent operation in North Waziristan Agency, “about 200 miscreants were killed, including 50 foreign militants in two-day clashes”, Director General ISPR Major General Waheed Arshad said on Thursday.
Talking to PTV, he said that the operation was launched three to four days ago “after miscreants attacked convoys of security forces in the area”.
Among the 50 foreign militants killed in the clashes, 25 were Uzbeks and some Arabs, Afghans and Tajiks, Gen Arshad said, quoting Tribal Jirga sources.
Forty-five security personnel lost their lives during the operation, he added.
He said during the last two days, security forces did not launch any operation in the region.
He, however, vowed that “action against miscreants” would continue until they stopped fighting.
