LADHA, Feb 16: Eight militants and a security man were killed and several people injured in a clash in South Waziristan Agency on Thursday, official sources said.

They said that security forces acting on a tip-off carried out a pre-dawn raid on a hotel at Rustam Bazaar in Wana, the headquarters of the agency.

A group of Taliban in the hotel resisted the forces, triggering a gunbattle that continued for hours.

The sources said that eight militants were killed and four others injured. Their bodies were later shifted to a scouts’ camp, they said, adding that the group comprised both the Punjabi and Mehsud Taliban.

One security man was killed and four personnel, among them a captain, suffered injuries in the gunbattle that destroyed the hotel and five shops.

A political administration official told Dawn on condition of anonymity that militants were reportedly planning an act of sabotage on the Gomal Zam Dam road but the timely action thwarted it.

Security forces said that a huge quantity of arms, explosives and suicide jackets were found at the hotel.