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46 Pro-Taliban Militants Killed in Pakistan Clashes

Fierce clashes that erupted across a lawless region of Pakistan during Bush's weekend visit petered out Sunday, leaving 46 pro-Taliban militants and five government security forces dead, an intelligence official said.
The fighting took place about 300 kilometers (190 miles) southwest of Islamabad, where Bush made a 24-hour visit and declared his solidarity with Pakistan in the war on terror. He left the country late Saturday in much the same way he arrived -- after dark, and with the running lights off and window shades pulled down to conceal Air Force One's distinctive markings.

Helicopter gunships backed ground troops in intermittent clashes throughout the night before fighting halted early Sunday in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, and elsewhere, the official in the area said on condition of anonymity because of the secretive nature of his job.

Bombing late Saturday destroyed a state-run telephone exchange that the militants had taken over, a petrol station, and a hotel in Miran Shah, which had been used as a militant base, he said.

Security forces have taken control of a bazaar in Miran Shah and militants abandoned a security check point they occupied in fighting on Saturday, he said.

Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the army spokesman, said 25 militants were killed in Miran Shah and 21 in Mir Ali, but added that the toll could be higher than that. Sultan earlier reported that three security soldiers were killed and about 10 were injured.

Intercepts of radio communications between militants involved in the fighting Saturday in Miran Shah and Mir Ali suggested 80 or more fighters had died, security and intelligence officials said Saturday.

No fresh militant casualties were reported on Sunday.

But the security official said one soldier was killed late Saturday in Miran Shah, and the body of another was found in Mir Ali Sunday after he went missing overnight.

Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 forces along the Afghan frontier, but has failed to assert the government's control in these tribal regions which have resisted outside influence for centuries.

Waziristan is known as a hotbed of al-Qaida and Taliban militants who draw support from the local Pashtun tribal people. Many of the rebellious tribesmen involved in Saturday's unrest are believed to be Islamic students, referred to as "local Taliban" -- reflecting their sympathies with the hardline militia in Afghanistan.(AP-AFP photo shows Bush (L) holding a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) at the Presidential Palace in Kabul)

Beirut, 05 Mar 06, 09:52


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