Two soldiers killed in NWA mine blast

MIRANSHAH: Two soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Machikhel area of Mir Ali sub-division in the North Waziristan Agency on Monday. Security forces once again launched an aerial and ground offensive against the militants in the Orakzai Agency on Monday and reportedly killed 11 militants. Whereas five militants were killed when two groups clashed near the Pak-Afghan border in the Khyber Agency.
Official sources said that the troops were patrolling the area when their vehicle struck an IED planted by the roadside by unknown people.The sources said two soldiers died on the spot and the vehicle was damaged in the explosion.
Another patrolling party of security forces also came under an IED attack in the Spinwam Tehsil of Mir Ali sub-division in North Waziristan.Security forces after the two incidents launched a search operation against the militants but couldn’t make any arrest.
Most parts of North Waziristan, including Mir Ali, Miranshah, Dattakhel, etc, had been under non-stop curfew after the government launched a military offensive against the local and foreign militants on June 15, 2014.
The government last week started repatriating the displaced people to the Spinwam Tehsil after the area was declared to have been cleared of the militants. The IDPs had stayed away from their homes and villages for 10 months after finding refuge mostly in Bannu and also in Lakki Marwat, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Karak, Kohat, etc. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the two IED attacks in North Waziristan on Monday.
Our correspondent adds from Kalaya: After a two-year break, security forces once again launched an aerial and ground offensive against the militants in the Orakzai Agency on Monday and reportedly killed 11 militants when fighter aircraft pounded militants’ hideouts in central parts of the militancy-stricken tribal region.Also, two women and a child were killed and three women and five children suffered injuries when a mortar shell fell on a house in the Orakzai Agency.
Security officials said fighter jets hit sanctuaries of the militants in Ibrahimo, Basho Patai, Bego Tangi, Drand Sheikhan, Kasha, Lala Sar, etc in central parts of the Orakzai tribal region. They said ground forces also took part in the action and targeted the hideouts of militants by using tanks and artillery.
Pleading anonymity, security officials said 11 militants were killed and several others suffered injuries in the offensive.According to sources, three major hideouts of militants were destroyed in the air strikes and artillery shelling. There was, however, no way to independently verify the account. The identity of the slain militants also couldn’t be ascertained.
Security forces launched the latest offensive in the Orakzai Agency after the recent attack by the militants on a military convoy in which four soldiers were killed.The Islamic State (IS) spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, had claimed responsibility for the attack and said it marked the launch of their operations in the Khurasan region, comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
Our correspondent adds from Bara: Five militants were killed and three others sustained injuries when two groups clashed near the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Agency, sources said on Monday.
The sources said that two banned militant organisations, Lahkar-e-Islam (LI) and Amr bil Maroof wa Nahi Anil Munkar (Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), clashed in a remote mountainous area of Jabbar Mela near the Pak-Afghan border.
The sources said the militants of two groups took positions in their bunkers and opened fire on each other.As a result, three militants of Lashkar-i-Islam, including an important commander Shahmat Khan, were killed on the spot and their two associates sustained injuries.
The sources said two commanders of Amr bil Maroof wa Nahi Anil Munkar, identified as Zari Jan and Ibrahim, were also killed while another was injured. The names of the injured militants could not be ascertained.