BARA: Some 31 insurgents were killed and many others injured respectively in shelling and bombing by security forces and jet fighters in Khyber and Orakzai tribal agencies, official sources said on Tuesday. The sources said security forces continued artillery shelling from the FC Mishtari Camp in Bazaar Valley as well as strikes by jet fighters against the militants’ bases in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency on security forces hit the positions of banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in Nakai area of Malikdinkhel and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Wochowane, Dwatoy and Bragat areas in Kukikhel. Official sources claimed that 23 militants were killed and several others injured in the shelling. They said that a number of insurgents’ hideouts were busted and huge cache of arms and ammunition including depots of ration destroyed in the operation. However, the human loses could not be verified from either militants or local people. The News, Dawn, Daily Mashriq.
SWABI: Gunmen attacked an anti-polio vaccination team here on Tuesday, killing a policeman who was escorting two women vaccinators who escaped unhurt. Officials said the workers were administering anti-polio vaccine to children in Gil Wand area of Kala village when men on a motorcycle opened fire, killing constable Munsif Khan on the spot. The women workers ran for safety and were not hurt. Deputy Commissioner Syed Mohammad Shah said the policeman had been shot from a close range. The district administration held a meeting at the DC office soon after the attack. Dr Mohammad Riaz, in-charge of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), said the anti-polio campaign had been postponed in Swabi for a day to assess the security situation. “We are planning to resume the campaign on Thursday,” he added. Dawn, The Nation, Daily Times, Daily Mashriq.
KALAYA: Ten militants were killed and several others injured on Tuesday as military planes continued pounding targets in Mamozai area of Orakzai tribal region, a Taliban stronghold. Fighter jets bombed positions in Jandri Kallay and Mir Qalamkhel areas and destroyed four militant hideouts, killed 10 militants and injured several others, sources said. The residents in Arghanjo, Mir Qalamkhel and Jandri Kallay areas, they said, began moving to safe places. Dawn, The Nation.
PESHAWAR: A man was killed and three others sustained injuries in a blast in Achini Mera near Al-Hamra Township on Tuesday. Some suspected militants had planted explosives in fields in Achini Mera that went off, killing one Sardar hailing from Zakhakhel area in Bara and injuring Gul Shah, Fazal and another person, who couldn’t be identified. Some reports said the bomb had been planted near a gambling den and the militants had reportedly warned of target it. However, the police didn’t confirm this version. A blast in a shop in the nearby Sarband had panicked policemen deployed at the nearby checkpost on Monday night. Later, the police said the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder while the experts from bomb disposal unit said it was caused by explosives.The police claimed to have seized huge cache of explosives and ammunition during a raid on a godown in Phandu village near the Ring Road. The News, Dawn, Daily Times, Daily Mashriq.
KOHAT: A house was partially damaged in an explosion at Tappi in the limits of Saddar Police Station on Tuesday. The explosive was planted near the house of former nazim Abdul Shakoor. The News.
ISLAMABAD: Putting aside years of mistrust, the Afghan government indicated on Monday its willingness to consider Pakistan’s longstanding offer of training its armed forces. This sense was conveyed during Afghan defence delegation’s meeting with Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani at the military headquarters. The Afghan delegation led by Defence Minister Gen Bismillah Khan Muhammadi, which is on a five-day visit to Pakistan, included Major General Afzal Aman, Director General of Military Operations; Major General Abdul Manan Farahi, Director General Military Intelligence and Investigation; Major General Payanda Mohammad Nazim, Inspector General of Training; and Major General Aminullah Karim, Commandant of National Defence College, Afghanistan. Dawn.
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Barrister Masood Kausar has approved establishment of a university for Fata in addition to Fata University, already approved for students in high-level disciplines as a continuity of Cadet College Razmak. The university would be established in a building to be given free of cost, he said adding it will be housed as a temporary arrangement in the existing building. He desired that immediate needs to run the institution should be assessed and future plans should he chalked out at the earliest. During a routine briefing on working of Cadet College, Razmak, here on Tuesday, he desired that any upgradation, new constructions and future expansion of the infrastructure facilities to meet the requirements of the cadets should be developed in line with this futuristic approach. The governor also highly eulogized the support and cooperation of the Pakistan Army in running the Cadet College Razmak on temporary basis on its premises. On this occasion, principal of the college, Col Tahir Qayyum, apprised the governor about the prevailing state of working of the institution as well as future needs in this connection. The Nation.
LANDIKOTAL: At least six men of a peace force were killed in a clash between militants and the militia in Tirah Valley of Khyber tribal region. A militant was also killed in the fighting. According to the media reports, the skirmishes between Qamarkhel peace jirga and militants continued in Tirah Valley. Over 80 people have so far been killed in the fighting. The Nation.
NAWAF KHAN, SHARAFAT ALI CHAUDHARY
