Three Pakistani soldiers, 22 miscreants die in clashes

The military army said Sunday that three soldiers and 22 militants were killed in clashes in a Khyber agency and Balochistan province.

The military said the security forces captured two string hideouts of the militants in the mountainous Tirah Valley in Khyber tribal region late Saturday.

“In a successful operation security forces last night captured Kismet Sur and Sanghar, two strong hideouts of militants in Tirah Valley, killing 16 miscreants in the operations,” a military statement said.

The statement said two security personnel were killed and three were injured during the operation.

“The militants were seen fleeing from areas leaving behind a huge cache of arms and ammunition,” it said.

There was no independent confirmation of the casualties as journalists’ access to the area is restricted.

Tirah Vally, bordering Afghanistan, is under the control of the Pakistani Taliban and another militant group “Lashkar-e-Islam”.

Pakistani ground forces have not yet succeeded to enter the valley due to presence of the Taliban and other militants as well as lack of roads. The security forces are using fighter jets and gunships in operations.

Meanwhile military sources said that the security forces foiled an attempt by miscreants to launch attack on an election rally in Balochistan, killing at least six miscreants. One soldier was killed in the clashes, the sources said.

“On an intelligence tip off that an attack was impending on an election rally in Sibbi, Balochistan, the Frontier Corps troops surrounded the miscreants,” the sources said.

The miscreants fired at the security personnel and during the exchange of fire six miscreants and one soldier were killed.

Pre-election violence in Pakistan has claimed lives of dozens of people including several candidates and political activists over the past three weeks.

Twin bomb blasts killed at least three people and injured over 40 in the port city of Karachi late Saturday. The blasts occurred near the office of the powerful Mutahida Qaumi Movement or MQM.

The MQM is observing mourning day in Sindh province of which Karachi is the capital on Sunday.

Pakistani Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attacks and its spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, says that the attacks were part of the plan to target three liberal parties which the Taliban call secular.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on May 5 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.