Gunship helicopters pounded two different positions of suspected militants as six soldiers were killed in two suicide attacks on as many military convoys in North Waziristan, a military spokesman said on Friday.A convoy coming from Bannu was attacked by a suicide car-bomber near Kamar post, 18 kilometres east of Miranshah, killing five soldiers. Another convoy faced a suicide attack when it reached Dosali, 35 kilometres south of Miranshah, spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said, adding that a soldier was killed in the attack. He said the suicide attacks also injured 30 soldiers. The injured were rushed to a Bannu hospital. “Suicide attacks are difficult to stop but we are taking precautionary measures,” Gen Waheed told Daily Times, as the operations near Miranshah and Mir Ali towns followed the morning attacks on security forces.
Some reports suggest the same convoy was hit twice, but the military spokesman denied this, saying that two convoys were attacked. “Gunship helicopters are pounding suspected areas near Miranshah as we have received credible intelligence about the presence of militants there,” the spokesman said.
According to residents, the operation took place in Qutabkhel, five kilometres southeast of Miranshah, where gunship helicopters made various sorties starting from 3:00pm.
Reports from Mir Ali town said helicopters also pounded Patasi Adda. No casualties were reported in the two military operations.
A Touchi Scouts jawan, Zaman, was “kidnapped” from a chowk in Miranshah and authorities are searching for him, local administration sources said. In another incident, two Frontier Corps and an army jawan were injured after a remote-controlled bomb went off near the Banda post.
AP adds: About 250 militants and 60 Pakistani troops have died in a month of fierce fighting near the Afghan border, the army said on Friday. “In the past one month, we lost about 60 soldiers in suicide and other attacks,” Gen Waheed said. He added that security forces also killed about 250 militants in the same period.
The fighting has been intense in the North Waziristan tribal region, where militants pulled out of a September peace deal that critics said allowed extremists to take control. Pakistan has about 90,000 troops in the border region tasked with countering Al Qaida and Taliban militants and their local supporters.