July 21, 2008	Monday	Rajab 17, 1429

KOHAT/PARACHINAR, July 20: Security forces killed five Taliban militants and injured scores of others when a fort in Hangu district came under attack on Saturday night, while the scope of Zerb-i-Kaleem military operation was extended to the adjacent Kurram tribal region on Sunday.

Official sources said that helicopter gunships attacked militants’ positions in several areas of central Kurram region in the morning.

Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said that the militants had escaped from the Hangu district to the Kurram region where helicopter gunships pounded their positions in tribal areas.

Local people told Dawn by telephone that they had seen three gunships attacking positions of heavily-armed militants in Murghan, Manato, Mazreena, Gowaki, Zangai and some other areas in central Kurram.

An ISPR press release said that fierce clashes between paramilitary soldiers and militants had left at least five Taliban militants dead and six of their vehicles destroyed at the Tora Warai Fort near Doaba.

It said that about 100 to 120 militants had attacked the fort where there were 29 soldiers of the Frontier Constabulary at the time. It said that 20 militants were injured in the attack. Officials said that at least three soldiers were injured in the gunbattle.

Sources said that heavy artillery fire by security forces had caused large-scale destruction in some areas of Tora Warai and Zargari following the militant attack on the fort.

Because of the fighting, a large number of families have started moving to Kohat district.

Witnesses said that dozens of houses were destroyed in clashes in Zargari and people left all their belongings while fleeing the area.

The local administration re-imposed the curfew on the Kohat-Thall road at 4pm on Sunday after a few hours’ relaxation in the morning.