PESHAWAR, Pakistan: An explosion destroyed a militant’s compound, killing as many as eight people yesterday as Pakistani paramilitary forces pushed deeper into a volatile tribal region, witnesses said.
The targeted extremists in Khyber region claimed a missile was fired from Afghanistan, but an expert said stored explosives blew up. The blast left bodies buried in piles of shattered masonry and mud bricks.
Pakistan denied its security forces were responsible for the nighttime explosion, and a Pentagon official said he knew of no missile attack. The blast came as Pakistani paramilitary troops pressed their offensive against militants threatening both the city of Peshawar and a key supply line for the US military effort in Afghanistan.
The military push — expected to last several more days — marks a shift for Pakistan’s coalition government, which has been seeking peace deals with pro-Taleban militants in tribal areas.
As the operation entered its third day, the paramilitary Frontier Corps advanced deeper into Khyber and faced no resistance yesterday, capturing strategic hilltops and manning checkpoints that had been abandoned by tribal police, a senior Corps officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment to journalists. The officer said troops in the Bara area — which starts on the outskirts of Peshawar — moved toward the remote Teerah valley. It remained unclear if Pakistani troops would push into the valley, where militants are believed to have fled.
So far, the forces have reported destroying several militant centers, including a radio station and alleged torture cells. They have said just one insurgent has died in the operation.
The Pakistani show of force comes amid US concern that the newly elected government’s efforts to negotiate peace deals with militants have given Taleban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists more space to operate along the lawless border.
Senior US State Department official Richard Boucher began a three-day visit to Islamabad yesterday and met with government leaders.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani defended Pakistan’s peace talks in a session with Boucher, insisting the government was only talking to those willing to lay down weapons, a statement from Gilani’s office said. The prime minister also said the government had received much public support for the military offensive.
In Washington, a Pentagon official said the US military would assess the outcome of the offensive to determine how significant and effective the effort has been. “We’ll have to see. The fact that something is being done is a step in the right direction,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Haji Namdar, leader of the militant Vice and Virtue Movement whose supporter apparently owned the targeted compound, said six people were killed. Namdar vowed revenge. “We do not know if our country Pakistan is involved, but our claim is on America,” Namdar told Geo TV after a funeral for some of the dead.
