Two soldiers were reportedly killed and seven others were injured when militants fired rockets at the Wana Scouts Camp on Friday night. The authorities however did not confirm if there were any casualties in the rocket attack. The camp came under attack from the north and south and continued sporadically till 9:00am on Saturday. Paramilitary forces retaliated with mortar fire. Some of the shells landed in Doog village damaging the houses of residents Syed Afzal, Malik Gul Munir Khan, Wakil Khan, Romal Khan, Bismillah Khan, Sirajud Din, Abdul Khaliq and Mujeebur Rehman, a local journalist. Three women were injured and a car was damaged when a mortar shell hit a house. Two or three rockets fired by suspected Al Qaeda militants landed inside the camp but they caused no injuries.
Tension marred Independence Day celebrations in Wana as no group or organisation held any function in connection with the country's 57th Independence Day. A procession of tribesmen holding black flags marched to the grave of Nek Muhammad, an Al Qaeda collaborator who was killed in an air attack last month, and offered prayers for him. The procession dispersed peacefully. However, the Ghangikhel Wazir, a sub-tribe of the Ahmadzai Wazir, announced support for the administration and agreed to submit a Rs 10 million bond and give a written undertaking that it would not attack the army and paramilitary troops in South Waziristan. Tribal elders also promised that they would not allow Al Qaeda militants to carry on their activities and would turn them over to the authorities. The Ahmadzai Wazir tribe jirga, which was scheduled to meet on Saturday, was postponed for Sunday. |