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| India-Pakistan |
| Army captured Laddah Fort, 28 militants killed |
| 2009-11-06 |
| [Dawn] Troops captured the strategically located Laddah Fort in the Mehsud heartland on Thursday. 'It's a major success,' a security official told Dawn. In early 2008, about 300 security personnel had remained under siege in the fort for 40 days when an operation against Baitullah Mehsud was under way. They had repulsed 14 major attacks by militants amid fears that a hostage situation and a massacre could take place if the fort collapsed. The fort, which lies on the main route connecting the area with Wana, Kaniguram and Makin, was eventually ceded to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan for setting up a dispensary in exchange of safe withdrawal of the marooned security personnel. According to the official, 28 militants were killed on Wednesday and Thursday and five others were captured. Four soldiers and an officer were killed and two others were wounded in a blast in Sararogha. The official said the operation was progressing well. He rejected Taliban's claims about having made a tactical retreat and said that anyone making a tactical withdrawal would not leave large quantities of arms and ammunition. About the Taliban claim that security forces had walked into a trap, he said the reality was the other way round. 'The strategy of first capturing heights in the mountainous terrain is working well.' He said the retreating militants would not succeed in moving out of the area in large numbers and would eventually have to face troops. Besides capturing the Laddah fort, troops have also secured the northeastern area of Shashak and cleared Bangel Khel. According to the ISPR, the area around Asman-Manza road up to Gadawai has also been cleared and troops are consolidating their positions. Militants fired rockets at Mangora Sar and Ghundai Gar and during an encounter seven militants were killed. On the Jandola-Sararogha axis, troops are consolidating their positions around peaks. On the Razmak-Makin axis, security forces conducted a search and clearance operation in areas around Spin Qamar, Wucha Kauna Algad and Lugar Manza. A large quantity of arms and ammunition has been seized. Meanwhile, nine truckloads of ration and 7,641 cash cards have been distributed among displaced families of Waziristan. |
| Posted by:Fred |