LANDI KOTAL, Jan 1: Security forces claimed to have killed 12 militants, four would-be suicide bombers among them, in a daylong operation in Karamna locality of Landi Kotal on Sunday.

Security forces lost one of their men in the operation. Landi Kotal Assistant Political Agent Khalid Mumtaz Kundi told Dawn that apart from killing 12 militants, security forces took into custody three women and five children from a house where militants had taken refuge and freed three people held by them.

Officials said that security personnel surrounded the house of one Gul Mat Khan in Karamna locality after receiving information about presence of militants of the Tariq Afridi group in the area.

An official handout said those killed in the operation included senior Taliban figure Qari Kamran who was accused of being involved in attacks on security forces and installations in Nowshera, Risalpur and Shabqadar.

Local sources said a number of militants were killed when a suicide bomber holed up in the house detonated his jacket packed with explosives.

A military helicopter provided air cover during the operation.

The sources said Taliban affiliated with the Tariq Afridi group only recently occupied the house after they had been expelled from Kukikhel-dominated areas of Tirah valley.