At least 30 militants die in clashes near Afghan border in Pakistan

August 8, 2008

Habib Khan, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KHAR, Pakistan - At least 30 militants and seven Pakistani paramilitary troops died in clashes near the Afghan border, where helicopter gunships and mortars pounded insurgent hide-outs Friday, officials and residents said.

The offensive in the tribal region of Bajur came in the wake of a militant assault Wednesday on an outpost manned by security forces. Officials said those initial clashes killed 25 militants and two troops.

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Details of the renewed fighting on Friday were scarce.

However, the death toll rose among government forces to seven, according to an army official and a Peshawar-based intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The army official said 30 militants were killed, while the intelligence official said 40 militants died and at least 25 were wounded. The latter said more paramilitary troops were advancing toward Loi Sam, a village that has been a main site of the fighting.

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Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said only that helicopters were operating in support of paramilitary troops on the ground.

Residents of Bajur's main town of Khar said they had seen the helicopters in the air and heard the sound of mortar fire.

"Intense fighting is going on between soldiers and Taliban since Friday morning," said Sher Zamin, a local resident. He said he saw Taliban fighters going toward the scene of the clashes.

Pakistan is under growing U.S. pressure to crack down on militants in its tribal areas, from where they launch attacks on government and NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. Bajur is also considered a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

Also Friday, suspected militants shot and killed three people and threw their bodies near Khar, said a resident, Gul Khan, who saw the bodies. He said militants had pinned a letter on one of the bodies, saying the victims were killed for spying on them.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, police said they have arrested eight suspected militants and seized four suicide jackets and bomb-making material in raids on militant hide-outs in the eastern city of Lahore.

Lahore's police chief, Pervez Rathore, said the arrests were made this week. The men allegedly wanted to target important installations and kidnap influential people to "extract money for jihadi organizations," he said.

Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar and Asif Shahzad in Lahore contributed to this report.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

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