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| 27 ‘suicide attackers’ killed in Buner operation |
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Monday, May 04, 2009
Army official says district to be cleared of Taliban within a week
BUNER: In charge Buner Operation Brig Fayyaz Mehmood Qamar on Sunday said the ongoing military offensive in the troubled district will be completed within a week.
Briefing media persons in Daggar, he said security forces killed 27 suicide attackers, bringing the death toll of militants to 80. Three security personnel were also killed in the operation, he added.
The brigadier said security forces faced stiff resistance while entering into Buner, as the presence of militants at the Ambela hills was very thick and suicide bombers, riding on motorcycles and vehicles, were out to target the forces.
Militants were still present in Pir Baba and Suleman Bakhsh and a plan had been chalked out to launch operation in this area, he said. Security forces have not initiated any land offensive so far and the entire operation was conducted with the help of artillery and gunship helicopters, he said.
Brig Fayyaz said the local militants were very few in strength while Uzbek insurgents were present in large numbers, putting up stiff resistance. Also, the DCO Buner disclosed that about 30-35 suicide bombers were still present in the area.
Curfew was relaxed for three hours to allow the people to purchase commodities of daily use. Meanwhile, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release stated that operation in Dir was also progressing smoothly.
ìConsolidation of positions was carried out on Sunday in Daggar and the surrounding areas,î it said. The press release said the dead included a militant commander, Khalil. ìHis real name is Alam Buneri and he was a main leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),î it said.
Security forces also successfully evacuated 20 girls, who were trapped in Daggar Girlsí College. About 15 of them were evacuated in a vehicle, while five were airlifted to the neighbouring Mardan district.
Our correspondent from Daggar adds: Unidentified gunmen looted three branches of various banks in different areas of Buner on Sunday.
Eyewitnesses said unidentified armed men arrived in pickups and broke into the banks at three different towns in Buner. They looted a branch of the Allied Bank at Tor Warsak, the United Bank in Jiwar and the Habib Bank’s branch at Bazargai in broad daylight and decamped with the cash, furniture and computers. It wasn’t clear how much money was looted. Apparently, the gunmen faced no resistance as they looted the banks. Their identity wasn’t known but it was suspected that they could be militants or common criminals.
Meanwhile, the relaxation in the curfew hours on Sunday enabled worried families to pack up whatever household goods they could and shift to safer places outside Buner. According to estimates, about 100,000 people have migrated to Barikot and other places in Swat.
In another heart-rending incident, the bodies of six teachers who had been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen three days ago were found. All of them were performing duty at an examination centre in the Nawagai village. Among them was Bakht Karim, the principal of the Government Higher Secondary School at Nawagai. The fate of the other teachers, who were abducted, is unknown.
In yet another incident, bodies of four men hailing from Swarai town were recovered and handed over to their families. It was learnt that Waris Khan, Junaid, Kashif Ali and Nazif Ali had been attacked while they were migrating from Swarai to some safer place. The attackers snatched 10 Tolas of gold and Rs 61,000 in cash from them and shot them dead.
Also, four more bodies were found. The dead were identified as Ali Gul, Syed Ali, Imran and Ramdad. Besides, elders and notables from Buner, including Jamil Khan, Laiq Khan, Naseeb Khan, Sarbiland Khan, Maulana Misbahuddin, Maulana Tajur Rehman, Sher Akbar Khan and Sardar Ali Khan, demanded of the government to immediately stop the military operation and lift the curfew from the area.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
