Air strikes against the hideouts of foreign militants and their local protectors continued for the second day on Saturday amid fears that an unspecified number of Army commandos have either been held hostage or lost their lives in the troubled Shakai area of South Waziristan agency. ISPR officials did not confirm the loss of lives to the commando force, which was dropped in the mountainous Mandata area, some 7 kms north of Shakai on Friday after heavily bombarding the bases of the militants. No details of casualties on the militants’ side were available due to the restriction imposed by law-enforcement agencies on entry to the area. The security personnel at a check-post detained four local journalists for two hours outside Shakai and all their belongings, including cameras and notebooks were snatched. However, the cameras were later returned to them but cassettes were seized, one of the detainees said.
Local tribesmen, who got out of Mandata and Shakai, told journalists in Wana that a number of Army commandos were trapped in the area and efforts were on to rescue them. About the siege by militants or hostage taking of the commandos, the locals said elders from Khojalkhel, Khunyakhel and Sperkai sub-tribes of Ahmadzai Wazir have been approached to negotiate with the militants for a safe return of the trapped personnel. It was also disclosed by the tribesmen that food and drinking water was in short supply in Mandata, Shakai and the surrounding villages for the last two days and local population has appealed to both sides to stop fighting to enable them shift to safer places.
The fighting on Saturday was not intense, local residents said. It was mainly due to the fact that the authorities had started negotiations with the militants through the local tribal elders. Fighter jets and gunship helicopters pounded the hideouts of militants. The bombing was so intense that it shook houses in Tiyarza and Khaisora, some 15 kilometres from Shakai, witnesses said. The militants targeted Army and paramilitary check-posts and bases with rockets in Zireynoor, Wana, Azam Warsak and Zaley areas on the night between Friday and Saturday. However no report of casualties has been received so far. Dozens of houses have been razed in Mandata Raghzai, Wayee and Shakai during the fighting, the locals said. It was also reported that a suicide bomber tried to attack a military convoy in Tiyarza the previous night, but the personnel of the security force pre-empted his bid and killed four foreign nationals. Two soldiers of the armed forces and three Jawans of the Frontier Corps were also killed in the cross-fire, the locals said. A captain of the Army was injured in the attack. Local Wazir tribesmen are leaving the troubled areas and majority of those moving out are women and children. The Ahmadzai Wazirs have been ordered not to come out of their houses after dusk. The authorities have also banned pillion riding. The random bombing and fire from heavy guns, locals said, has sent waves of terror among the tribesmen and even those supporting the government have expressed concern over the indiscriminate firing. |