Pakistani Security Forces Attack Terror Camp
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MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) – Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a militant training camp near the Afghan border Tuesday, killing at least four suspected militants, security officials said.
After receiving reports about the training facility in North Waziristan, tribal elders were sent to the area to tell its organizers to close it down, but came under fire, triggering a gunbattle, said Major General Waheed Arshad, an army spokesman.
“When they opened fire, we had to start an operation,” General Arshad said. At least four militants had been killed and the gunfight was continuing, he said.
The fighting was taking place in the area of three villages about 20 miles south of the main town of Miran Shah. Troops seized arms, ammunition, tents and unspecified training material from the camp, Arshad said.
General Arshad said the identities and nationalities of the four dead militants was not clear.
The bodies were taken to the municipal administration office in Miran Shah. An Associated Press reporter said two of the dead appeared to be in their late teens, with one having a bullet wound in the face.
Pakistan reached a peace deal with pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan in September to stop attacks on security forces inside Pakistan and Afghanistan and expel foreign militants. Local tribal leaders are responsible for overseeing the deal’s implementation.
A local intelligence official said the training facility in the Zarga Khel area was believed used by local militants.
Elders accompanied by security forces to shut it down came under fire from about 15 to 20 militants, the official said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. He added that army helicopter gunships destroyed the camp and that other militants fled the area.
Late Friday, local militants kidnapped eight government officials, including five women, inspecting sites for new schools, roads and hospitals in North Waziristan. They are still missing.
President General Pervez Musharraf, a key American ally in its war on terrorism, said last week that Al Qaeda was still present in the lawless tribal region.
