September 25, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 24, 1429

KHAR/CHARADDA, Sept 24: At least 34 people, including seven soldiers, were killed in fierce clashes in the Bajaur tribal region and its adjacent Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda district on Wednesday. Fifteen others were injured.

“There was a fierce clash between security forces and miscreants in Bajaur in which 25 miscreants were killed and seven soldiers embraced martyrdom,” a foreign news agency quoted Director-General of Inter Servies Public Relations Maj-Gen Athar Abbas as saying.

A security official said that the six soldiers were killed in an encounter in Rashakai, adding that bodies of 25 militants had been found.

Air force planes, army helicopters and artillery pounded positions of militants in Lowi Sam, Rashakai, Tangi, Tang Khatta and others areas.

Sources said that heavy clashes broke out between troops and militants in Rashakai, a stronghold of insurgents, early on Wednesday morning and at least five militants were killed.

Officials said that several reinforced bunkers and makeshift tunnels built b the militants had been destroyed. Troops also seized heavy weapons in Rashakai, Tang Khatta and Khazan.

On Tuesday night, mortars and field guns were used against the militants and at least 11 militants were killed.

Sources said that militants, holed up in the area despite intense air and ground fire, were attacking the security forces. Intense shelling is reported to have destroyed large areas in Rashakai and Lowi Sam.

A mortar shell hit a house in Mamond tehsil, killing three people, including a child. Two women were injured.

Meanwhile, two people were killed and seven others in-

jured when a vehicle carrying volunteers of a tribal lashkar hit a mine in Salarzai. The injured are being treated in a hospital in Khar. The body of an unidentified man was found in Inayet Killey.

Security forces and militants also clashed in the Shabqadar area of Charsadda district, adjacent to Mohmand tribal region, on Wednesday, leaving seven militants and one policeman dead.

Taliban leaders called journalists and threatened to blow up the Warsak Dam in the Mohmand Agency if the government did not stop the operation.

Sporadic clashes in Shabqadar on Tuesday night and Wednesday forced local people to move to other areas. Seven militants were reportedly killed in the clashes.

Pir Qila is without electricity and people are in grip of panic.

Sources said a militant leader, who identified himself as Ahmad Shah, had been arrested.

Militants fired rockets on a police patrol in Sarow Kali on Tuesday night, killing a constable and injuring six others.

A high school was blown up in the Ekka Ghund area in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday night. Local people said that the building had been destroyed.

Our correspondent Fauzi Khan contributed to this report from Ghalanai in Mohmand Agency.