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| Afghanistan/South Asia | |
| Pakistan ready to declare victory in Wana. Again. | |
| 2004-06-14 | |
| The army said on Sunday that it had killed at least 55 militants and dismantled several Al Qaeda compounds in four days of fighting in South Waziristan Agency, but 17 soldiers were also killed and no major arrests were made. Military spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said army and paramilitary troops âsuccessfully dismantled and destroyedâ militant hideouts. âMost militants killed were foreigners,â he said, adding that the operation was ânearing its culmination.â In a separate incident, security forces killed at least eight suspected militants who tried to sneak into Angoradda from Afghanistan in three vehicles, a senior army official told Reuters on Sunday. âWhen they were challenged, they opened fire. Our soldiers responded, destroying their two vehicles and killing at least eight of them,â he said. Their bodies are on the Afghan side of the border, he said, adding Pakistani troops did not sustain any casualties. The government has barred journalists from travelling to the tribal areas, so details of fighting in the military operation on Sunday were sketchy. Gen Sultan said there were no clashes and no attacks from the militants had been reported. âThe troops are consolidating their positions,â he told AFP. Security forces seized weapons and munitions during searches of Al Qaeda compounds in Shakai, Gen Sultan said. One of the targets in the latest operation was the home of a suspected Qaeda financier, Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi. Gen Sultan said it was unclear whether al-Iraqi was killed or had fled the assault. âWe had reports he would come and meet his contacts here,â he said. A senior military official told Reuters the army had identified 16 more compounds and places in the Shakai area that were being used by militants. âThey are also being targeted,â he said. Gen Sultan said that a band of armed tribesmen loyal to the government will soon begin a search for remaining militants in Shakai, but gave no date. Pro-government tribes manned hills overlooking Shakai and other villages in the area to prevent attacks by the renegade groups harbouring foreign militants, tribal leaders said. âWe are fulfilling our responsibility,â tribal elder Haji Sharif Ghanikhel said. âWe burned firewood to warn the militants that
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| Posted by:Dan Darling |