World | Pakistan
Security forces repel Taliban attack on military fort killing 49 insurgents
Officials say security forces have repelled a massive Taliban attack on a military fort in northwestern Pakistan and pounded militants cowering in a health centre, as fighting near the Afghan border spread to a third front.
- AP
- Published: 22:56 August 27, 2008
Islamabad: Officials say security forces have repelled a massive Taliban attack on a military fort in northwestern Pakistan and pounded militants cowering in a health centre, as fighting near the Afghan border spread to a third front.
As many as 49 insurgents died, officials claimed.
The violence came a week after US ally Pervez Musharraf was forced to resign as president, triggering a scramble for power that resulted in the collapse of the country's ruling coalition this week.
The party of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto, now in a position to dominate the government, is toughening its stance against extremists at a time when they are becoming increasingly bold.
Security forces assessed the toll with the help of intercepted radio traffic among the insurgents, he said, but spokesmen for the militants could not be reached to confirm the report.
Troops are engaged in bloody offensives against Islamist extremists in the northern Swat valley and in Bajaur, a region considered a launchpad for Taliban operations into neighbouring Afghanistan and a possible hideaway for Al Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden.
Officials say hundreds of militants have died in the weeks-old operation, while residents say civilians have also been killed in incidents including mortar strikes on their homes. An estimated 200,000 people have fled to safer areas.
Police said eight militants died and 10 were wounded when government forces fired on suspect vehicles in two areas of Bajaur early yesterday, though the reported casualties could not be verified independently. In a sign that a third front in the struggle may be opening up, the military said between 75 and 100 militants assailed a military fort in the South Waziristan region at about midnight on Tuesday. Troops guarding Tiarza Fort and a checkpoint on a nearby bridge "responded effectively and repulsed the attack", a military statement said, adding that 11 militants died and up to 20 were wounded. It made no mention of any casualties among the troops.
Suspected militant hideouts in South Waziristan have been targeted in a stream of suspected US missile attacks, including one that killed a senior Al Qaida commander in July.
Aminullah Wazir, a shopkeeper in Wana, the region's main town, said security forces imposed a curfew in the area yesterday. Shops were shut and the streets deserted, he said.
"We heard shelling and gunfire almost all night," Wazir said over telephone.
Pakistan's five-month-old government initially dabbled in peace talks with militants. But the initiatives have borne little fruit, and US officials have been pressing for stiffer action against insurgents.
Pakistan this week banned the local wing of the Taliban movement after it claimed responsibility for a double suicide bombing that killed 67 people at an arms factory near the capital.
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