MIRAMSHAH/WANA, Sept 29: Helicopter gunships fired rockets on suspected military hideouts near Miramshah in North Waziristan agency following a gun-battle between army troops and tribesmen on Thursday.

Witnesses said that scores of families were seen leaving the area and moving to safe locations. The main road and all entry points have been sealed by the troops.

An official of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) told Dawn in Peshawar that one member of the tribal Khasadar force was killed and seven soldiers suffered injuries during the exchange of fire in the Khattaki village.

“The military has engaged its Cobra helicopters and artillery and moved more troops towards the hostile area,” he said.

He, however, declined to give details about civilian casualties or collateral damage.

The Online news agency, however, claimed that as many as 40 militants died in clashes in the Khati Kali area, 60km west of Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, on Thursday.

It said that security forces had cordoned off the area and militants trapped in the mountainous region were trying hard to break the siege.

ISPR chief Major General Shaukat Sultan neither confirmed nor denied the casualty figure, the news agency said.

Official sources said that security forces had arrested Ahmad Haqqani, a nephew of Taliban commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The sources said that Ahmad Haqqani, a former detainee at the Guantanamo Bay, was arrested along with another person who were riding a motorbike in Dandy Derpakhel on Wednesday night.

Unconfirmed reports said that at least two soldiers, one Khasadar and two tribesmen were killed, while seven troops suffered injuries.

The clashes erupted in the volatile agency after troops laid a siege to houses in Khattaki village, west of Miramshah, after receiving information about presence of foreign militants in the area.

The troops soon came under fire from suspected militants who attacked an army convoy. One soldier was wounded in the attack.

The convoy was heading towards Datakhel tehsil from Miramshah.

Eyewitnesses said that on appeal by some people to tribesmen to come out in strength to rescue their fellows, some 300 armed volunteers took positions around the Khattaki village and opened fire on security forces.

Helicopter gunships were called from Miramshah and rockets were fired on suspected positions.

Sources said that the army and paramilitary forces also used medium-range artillery and fired shells to dismantle pockets of resistance.

According to reports, one Khasadar was killed when tribesmen fired on a peace jirga. The jirga, led by assistant political agent Humayun Khan, was trying to broker a ceasefire.

After hours of lull in the firing following efforts by the authorities to negotiate a peace deal, clashes erupted again in the evening. The paramilitary forces started heavy artillery shelling from their headquarters in Miramshah.

The sources said that about 100 armed men had captured three paramilitary troops after surrounding a checkpoint near Miramshah on Wednesday night.

The personnel, belonging to Tall Scouts of the Frontier Corps, were however released subsequently.

Dilawar Khan Wazir adds from South Waziristan:

Four Khasadars and a political Moharer were gunned down, while another Khasadar was wounded when masked men attacked their vehicle near Wana in the South Waziristan Agency on Thursday.

Officials and witnesses said that the vehicle carrying officials was coming from the Tank district when it was attacked near Wana.

They said that the attackers who were in a car opened fire on the vehicle from the front and sped back to Wana. As a result, political Moharar Inayatullah, and four Khasadars, Muzafar Khan, Saeedullah, Jamal Khan and Lal Mohammad were killed on the spot, while another Khasadar, Nousher Khan, suffered serious injuries.

According to an AFP report, the victims were bringing money from a bank to pay salaries of the Khasadar force when their vehicle came under attack.

An official told the news agency that it was unclear whether the attack was mounted by insurgents or a gang of robbers. He would not say whether the money was also taken.

Official sources said that some of the offices were being shifted from Wana to the Tank district due to the deteriorating law and order situation in the region.

The office of director agriculture was recently shifted from Wana to the adjoining district, while the International Fund for Agriculture Development had already suspended its activities in the agency.

The IFAD staff, escorted by Khasadar force, was recently deprived of two vehicles.