Troops strike back in Swat
* 20 militants killed in clashes
* Army chases militants out of Shangla
ISLAMABAD: Troops killed 20 militants on Thursday after launching a counter-offensive against pro-Taliban militants in Swat Valley, the army said.
The fighting in the troubled valley came a day after the army said that 33 militants were killed when gunship helicopters and artillery pounded insurgent hideouts. On Thursday, troops killed 12 militants while clearing rebel trenches and checkposts from a road, chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.
Another eight insurgents were killed when security forces launched an attack, Arshad said. “The militants’ mortar positions in the area have now been destroyed,” he told AFP. Arshad added that troops also launched an attack against another rebel position late on Wednesday, causing an unknown number of militant casualties.
Militants flee: Witnesses said that in Shangla district, militants had disappeared off the streets and had moved out. “Militants have fled from the streets to forests and their mountain hideouts after the military offensive,” a security official told AFP. Residents and a security official said civilians had also been killed in Pagorai Miankalay village of the Shangla district, in the firing.
“Nearly two dozen civilians have been killed,” said a security official asking not to be named. “Announcements are being made from mosque loudspeakers to help remove the dead and wounded,” village resident Musa Khan told Reuters by telephone.
Meanwhile, an Inter-Services Public Relations statement termed as baseless reports that militants had taken over the Saidu Sharif Airport and that 200 security personnel had surrendered.
Source: Daily Times
Date:11/16/2007
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