PESHAWAR, March 4: Dozens of militants were killed in fierce clashes which followed a massive rocket attack on government installations in the restive regional headquarters of the North Waziristan tribal region.

AFP quoted security officials as saying that soldiers had killed at least 46 militants during heavy fighting in the remote tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Officials said that around 25 militants were killed in Mirali, a small town in the North Waziristan agency while another 21 were killed in Miramshah, the agency headquarters.

“The death toll is known to us through various communication intercepts from the militants. They are communicating their losses,” said a Peshawar-based official.

However, Online news agency reported that security forces killed nearly 100 militants in one of the fiercest clashes in Mirali, including a number of foreigners, during an operation on Saturday morning. Two security personnel had also been killed while four others were injured.

The gunbattle erupted early Saturday morning after militants fired rockets on the army barracks in the Zarmella township of Mirali. A local jirga was in session during the attack. The clashes were continuing till the filing of this report.

Online news agency said that communication and electricity facilities had been destroyed in the ensuing clashes.

Government and security officials said that militants had occupied government buildings and installations in the morning and took positions on buildings overlooking the main bazaar in Miramshah.

Locals in Miramshah and officials in Peshawar said the militants launched a fierce attack on government buildings and installations at around 5pm.

“It was a heavy attack,” one security official said. He said that for once the militants had virtually taken over the regional headquarters. Some of the rockets and missiles landed in the camp office, housing the offices of the Political Agent of the North Waziristan Agency. There was no report of casualty inside the camp office.

The militants also took over Batasi Adda in Mirali tehsil but were dissuaded by the local elders and later abandoned their positions.

These sources said that the government responded with medium artillery and pounded militants positions while Cobra gunship helicopters with night vision were pressed into action as the evening descended on Miramshah.

“There was some heavy fighting”, said a senior government official, who thought the casualty figure would be “very very high”.

Meanwhile, security forces also targeted and blew up Madrrassah Gulshan-i-Uloom in Miramshah, the hub of the militants activity and the base of Maulana Abdul Khaliq, who on Friday had issued fatwa against the political agent, saying he was liable to be killed.

There was, however, no information whether the militant cleric, who had announced a jihad against Pakistani forces just a day ago, was still inside the seminary when it was blown up.

Locals said that families had already begun moving to safer locations in Mirali and Bannu earlier on in the day in anticipation of troubles in the restive region.

It was not clear who or what had caused the break up in telecommunication but the region remained incommunicado till the filing of this report.

Government officials said that the political agent had been asked to hold no furt6her contact with the tribal elders at least for three days to allow the security forces to begun the search and mop operation from Sunday.

The government, said the official, planned to occupy Miramshah bazaar and fan out to increase its sphere of influence and ban the display of arms in the tehsil headquarters.

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