ISLAMABAD, 2 October 2005 — Pakistani security forces’ drive against militants continued for the third day yesterday in Khati Kalla near Miranshah in North Waziristan. Women and children have been asked to leave the tribal area near the Afghan border, the sources said yesterday. At least 11 soldiers and 40 militants have been killed since the operation started on Thursday to flush out militants from the area.
Local media quoted Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao as saying that 11 soldiers had died in the military operation Thursday and Friday, but army spokesman Gen. Shaukat Sultan denied the reports, saying that four soldiers and a tribal police officer had been killed.
Authorities using loudspeakers urged the civilians to flee as troops tightened their cordon around the village, near the main town of Miranshah, following two days of clashes that have left four soldiers and dozens of militants dead, local officials said.
“We have warned the militants to surrender and hand over their weapons, otherwise we will use full force against them,” a military spokesman said.
Pakistani ground forces backed by helicopter gunships intensified attacks on militant hideouts in the region after rebels suspected of ties with Al-Qaeda refused to surrender, an army spokesman and local officials said yesterday.
Residents said rebels buried an unspecified number of their comrades before dawn yesterday and that Pakistani troops retrieved five bodies of militants. Sultan said the militants have suffered “heavy casualties” but that it was impossible to say how many were killed.
Pakistani aircraft dropped pamphlets in North Waziristan urging people to help security forces fight “misguided elements who are disrupting peace.”
