ISLAMABAD, 28 January 2008 — Pakistani security forces retook control of a major road tunnel in the northwest late yesterday as North West Frontier Province Gov. Awais Ahmed Ghani blamed the international drug mafia for growing militancy in tribal areas. Troops took control of the tunnel after fighting in which at least 25 militants were killed.

“There is evidence that the international drug mafia is funding militancy in Pakistan,” Ghani said at a function held in connection with the International Customs Day late on Saturday

Troops yesterday hit militant positions in Darra Adam Khel where militants occupied a Japanese-built tunnel on Friday, blocking traffic between the main city of Peshawar in North West Frontier Province and the city of Kohat.

As the operation entered the third day yesterday troops used artillery, long-range weapons and helicopters to dislodge militants from their bunkers on hills overlooking the tunnel, a military spokesman said. The army recaptured the tunnel after fierce clashes.

Residents said hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the tunnel, with the militants having erected barricades on the road to the tunnel.

“The security forces have cleared the Kohat tunnel and taken its control after fighting which killed 25 people,” an army official said, requesting anonymity.

The unrest started after militants seized four military trucks loaded with ammunition on Thursday.

“They are holding key positions on mountain tops that is why it took time,” military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said, adding security forces suffered no casualties and there were no details of militant losses in the latest clash.

He said 25 militants were killed late Saturday. On Friday, the troops said they had killed 30 rebels and lost two soldiers in Darra Adam Khel, which is known for its weapons bazaar and illegal arms manufacturing factories.

Two Frontier Corp men were also killed yesterday while 10 others were injured in clashes. Security forces destroyed the house of a militant commander.

Militants fired rockets at government installations in Kohat on Saturday.

A rocket that landed in a park failed to detonate and was later defused by the bomb squad. Militants also fired rockets at Pakistan State Oil’s tankers but they failed to cause any damage.

Another rocket fell in front of the office of the inspector general of police, causing only minor injuries to a policeman while another rocket landed on a residential unit but caused no casualties.

Meanwhile, Islamabad has rejected a bid by two top US intelligence officials to win more access for the CIA in tribal areas where Al-Qaeda, the Taleban and other militants are active, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed officials briefed on the secret visit on Jan. 9 by Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, and General Michael Hayden, the CIA director, the Times said Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf “rebuffed proposals to expand any American combat presence in Pakistan, either through unilateral covert CIA missions or by joint operations with Pakistani security forces.”

“Instead, Pakistan and the United States are discussing a series of other joint efforts, including increasing the number and scope of missions by armed Predator surveillance aircraft over the tribal areas, and identifying ways that the United States can speed information about people suspected of being militants to Pakistani security forces,” the report said.

Analysts said Musharraf must resolve a long-standing dilemma — go after the militant leadership and risk even more suicide attacks in Pakistan’s big cities, or hold back and see the insurgents push further into the country.

A spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations in Islamabad yesterday ruled out the possibility of any operation by international forces operating in Afghanistan inside Pakistan.

Nine Die in Building Collapse

At least nine people, including women and children, were killed and several others suffered injuries when a three-storied building collapsed in Rawalpindi following an explosion yesterday.

Police officials said the explosion took place at one of the floors of the building where a huge quantity of firecrackers was stored.

The firecrackers caught fire and caused the collapse of the building. Injured were taken to the hospital. Sources said the toll could increase as several people were still trapped under the collapsed structure. Five people were missing and believed to be trapped under rubble, said Rawalpindi police chief Saud Aziz.

Firecrackers stored on the ground floor exploded and then the building collapsed, he said.

The building in the Gunjmandi neighborhood of Rawalpindi city had both residential apartments and shops on the ground floor.