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Airstrikes, Ground Offensive

76 militants, 2 soldiers killed in Pak tribal area

AFP, Peshawar
Pakistani helicopter gunships and ground troops pounded Taliban fighters Saturday and Friday, killing up to 76 militants and destroying a dozen would-be suicide bombers in fierce fighting, the army said.
Hoops on Saturday killed 16 militants in heavy fighting after Taliban militants attacked a security post in a tribal area near the Afghan border, killing two paramilitary soldiers, officials said.
The military launched the gruelling assault in the northwest of the nuclear power six days ago under US pressure after the Islamist hardliners advanced to within 100 kilometres of the capital Islamabad.
’During the last 24 hours, 55 to 60 militants have been killed," Major General Athar Abbas told a briefing update on the operation in Buner district on Friday.
Bdsed orl tomblried tolls released by thg military, nearly 200 militants have been killed in Operation Black Thunder since tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships swung into action in Buner and neighbouring Lower Dir.
Troops retaliated after the militants launched a pre-dawn attack on Spinki Tangi post in the Mohmand tribal region bordering eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, local military spokesman Major Fazal Khan said.
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Mohmand is one of seven lawless tribal districts in northwestern Pakistan, where Taliban militants frequently attack security forces.
"The Taliban attack was launched before dawn, troops retaliated and heavy fighting continued until early this morning," the spokesman said.
Two soldiers from the paramilitary Mohmand Rifles were killed and five wounded, he said adding that 16 Tailban fighters were killed.
Another security official said three soldiers were missing after the clash, but local administration official Saeed Ahmed denied this.
Last month Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships killed 18 militants in a military operation in Mohmand.
The offensive was launched to force militants to flee from key heights in the area.
The rugged tribal areas have been wracked by violence since Afghanistan's Taliban regime was toppled by the 2001 US-led invasion, prompting hundreds of fighters to flood the region.
None of the deaths or details provided by the military could be immediately confirmed independently.
Abbas described "fierce fighting" in the northern area of a strategic pass that heads towards Islamabad and said that 400 "well-equipped and organised" Taliban were putting up "stiff resistance" in Buner.
Ground troops backed by helicopter gunships destroyed nine suicide vehicles and six vehicles of "fleeing militants," he said. Three "suicide motorcyclists" were shot dead by ground troops advancing on narrow mountain tracks, he said.
A suicide bomber blew up a booby-trapped house killing two paramilitary soldiers and wounding eight others, said Abbas, bringing the military's overall losses to 13 during the offensive.
Another suicide bomber was arrested after detonating his explosives and wounding himself, the spokesman said.
Pakistan ceded control of the nearby Swat valley in February, signing a deal to allow religious hardliners to enforce Islamic law in the region in order to end a bloody two-year rebellion led by a radical cleric.
But instead of disarming as reouired under the deal, the %*ba» »«cadpiBhed-ferthe» south towards Islamabad, taking over large swathes of Lower Dir and Buner — and prompting the latest army offensive.
The military accused militants of violating the peace agreement by erecting multiple checkpoints, planting hundreds of improvised
bombs, abducting government employees and beheading four other people in Swat.
Security forces killed two militants who ambushed their patrol in the Langar area of Swat on Friday, military officials said.
People living in Buner said Friday that the fighting was heavy.
Hazrat Khan, 26, a teacher in Sultanwas, said he, his wife and four children had been holed up at home for four days, with food running low.
"I can see through chinks in the door that Taliban are everywhere out there. I can't move because of the curfew and shelling," he said.
On Friday, more than 50 armed Taliban stormed a local paramilitary headquarters in Upper Dir -- a district so far shielded from the offensive --and snatched then released 10 security forces personnel, officials said.