Another 13 militants killed in NWA airstrikes

 

MIRANSHAH: Military authorities on Saturday claimed another 13 militants have been killed and seven of their hideouts destroyed in airstrikes in the Mir Ali subdivision of North Waziristan Agency.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said fighter jets pounded the hideouts of militants after they fired rockets on the posts of the security forces in Mir Ali on Saturday morning.

It said the jets pounded seven hideouts of the militants and killed 13 terrorists. The statement said most of those killed were foreigners.

According to ISPR, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was also destroyed in the airstrikes. It also said consolidation of the cleared area in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, and on the Miranshah-Dattakhel road is in progress.

According to the military officials, six motorcycle-borne improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and two vehicle-borne IEDs, both ready to be used in terrorist attacks, two 12.7 mm guns, one 14.5 mm gun, three vehicles, 11 suicide jackets and a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered during the last 24 hours in Khar Warsak and Zartangi.

They said three terrorists, including an Uzbek national, have been apprehended from the Boya area. They added that two explosives-laden vehicles were destroyed through aviation strike at Degan village. They claimed two suicide bombers were identified and chased and eventually they exploded and took their lives when encircled close to Boya.

ISPR said relief operations for the IDPs were continuing at full pace in Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and Peshawar.

“So far 96,533 ration packs each weighing 110 kilograms have been distributed among the IDPs,” it added.

According to the ISPR statement, 1,012 tonnes of ration has been collected so far at 59 relief collection points established by the Pakistan Army throughout the country. It said most of the ration has been transported to Bannu.

“The army doctors, specially moved to reinforce the local medical effort at Bannu, are busy in providing relief to the patients. So far 12,587 patients have been treated at the Field Medical Hospital established at Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital in Bannu by army doctors,” it added.

Jets pound militants in NWA, kill 13

 

MIRANSHAH: After a few days of lull, the Pakistan Air Force fighter jets on Tuesday again pounded seven suspected hideouts of militants in North Waziristan and reportedly killed 13 terrorists.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a brief statement to the media about the latest air strikes in the Degan village, which had been attacked earlier as well.The press release didn’t provide further details about the air strikes and the identity of the slain militants.

Degan is located in the Dattakhel Tehsil, near the Afghan border, and is considered a stronghold of the North Waziristan-based Taliban headed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur.Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s group isn’t part of the mainstream Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by the Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban commander Mullah Fazlullah.

It was the second time that jet fighters carried out bombing in Dattakhel after the launch of the military operation in North Waziristan on June 15. Hafiz Gul Bahadur has until now remained neutral and has announced a ceasefire due to Ramazan till the 10th day of Eidul Fitr and directed his fighters not to attack the security forces.

Taliban sources said some of Gul Bahadur’s fighters had attacked a security checkpoint called Tipo in the Spinwam Tehsil a few days ago, killing two soldiers and causing injuries to a few others. The military authorities, however, didn’t confirm this report and said the soldiers died in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device (IED).

Also, despite repeated warnings by the military authorities and local political administration, the majority of the residents are said to be still residing in Dattakhel and its adjoining villages.

Miranshah and Mir Ali, which are the two major residential and commercial towns in North Waziristan, were largely in control of the militants from the TTP, Uzbeks, Arabs, Chechens and Punjabi Taliban while Gul Bahadur and his fighters dominated Dattakhel when the military launched the operation on June 15.

The militants and residents have vacated both Miranshah and Mir Ali and the adjoining villages but Dattakhel is still said to be in control of Gul Bahadur and his men. Also, residents haven’t vacated Razmak, Dossali and Garyoom tehsils as well as Shawa and Spinwam under arrangements with the army and the administration in return for guarantees that they won’t allow the militants to hide in their areas.

ISIL militants declare Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the caliph

BAGHDAD: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Sunni militants fighting across Syria and Iraq – have proclaimed the establishment of a “caliphate” in a move that experts say could signal the birth of a new era of transnational jihadism.

Now calling itself the Islamic State, the group has called on all other related Sunni factions, including al-Qaeda, to pledge their allegiance to the new state, which it says stretches from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala in Iraq. Put simply, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared war on Al-Qaeda.

In a statement distributed online on Sunday – the newly-minted Islamic State declared its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "the caliph" and "leader for Muslims everywhere". Baghdadi is thought to be the leader and strategic thinker behind ISIL.

Its announcement that it has restored the Caliphate “is likely the most significant development in international jihadism since 9/11,” said Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Centre who studies jihadist groups.

The impact of this announcement will be global as al-Qaeda affiliates and independent jihadist groups must now definitively choose to support and join the Islamic State or to oppose it.”

The group’s statement – translated from Arabic into English, French, Russian and German – made it clear it would perceive any group that failed to pledge allegiance an enemy of Islam,” Mr Lister said.

Already, this new Islamic State has received statements of support and opposition from jihadist factions in Syria, he confirmed.

Released on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, the statement establishing a caliphate, a system of rule that ended nearly 100 years ago with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, reads: “Here the flag of the Islamic State … rises and flutters. Its shade covers land from Aleppo [Syria] and Diyala [Iraq].

“The infidels are disgraced. The Sunnis are masters and are esteemed. The people of heresy are humiliated. The Sharia penalties are implemented, all of them.

“The front lines are defended, crosses and graves demolished. Governors and judges have been appointed, a tax has been enforced and courts will resolve disputes and complaints.”

ISIL, also known as ISIS, already controls large swathes of northern Iraq after a sustained assault which began with the overthrow of Iraqi control of the country’s second largest city of Mosul, near the Syrian border, on June 9.

Over the last two years it has established a strong presence in parts of Syria, controlling key oil fields in eastern Syria in the area bordering Iraq, levying taxes and other penalties and implementing strict Sharia law on besieged communities.

“Geographically, ISIS is already fully operational in Iraq and Syria; it has a covert presence in southern Turkey, appears to be establishing a small presence in Lebanon; and has supporters in Jordan, Gaza, the Sinai, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere,” Mr Lister said. “This could well be the birth of a totally new era of transnational jihadism.”

The announcement was also interpreted as a threat to al-Qaeda and its long-held position of leadership of the international jihadist cause.

“Put simply, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared war on al-Qaeda.”

Baghdadi took over the group in 2010. Back then ISI, as it was known, was aligned to al-Qaeda and in a weakened state following a surge of US forces deployed to Iraq and the coalition of Sunni tribal groups that fought against al-Qaeda’s presence in the country. But under his leadership the group thrived and is now believed to be the wealthiest militant organisation in the world with assets in the billions, “simultaneously implementing harsh mediaeval justice and a whole range of modern social services”, Mr Lister said.

Relations between between ISIL and its prior incarnations and al-Qaeda have been fraught with distrust, open competition, and outright hostility, said Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, describing the two groups as “now in an open war for supremacy of the global jihadist movement”.

ISIL “holds an advantage but the battle is not over yet,” he wrote in the institute’s journal.

Meanwhile, a fierce battle raged in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit after the Iraqi military, backed by Shiite militia, launched an offensive to try to take back Tikrit from Sunni insurgents after they lost control of the area on June 11.

And while the military and Iraqi state television claimed security forces had cleared the centre of the city of militants, it appeared the army had been pushed back 15 kilometres from the city as the insurgents fought back, Tikrit residents said.

Five militants killed in operation Zarb-e-Azb

PESHAWAR: At least five militants were killed and six hideouts were destroyed as the Pakistan Army continued its assault in North Waziristan on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the health workers administered polio vaccine to children’s of Internally Displaced Persons from the tribal area.

Health workers have been working to administer polio drops in the far-flung areas since Wednesday.

A Ration Point has also been established on Bannu Kohat road where the IDPs were getting food items.

Iraq PM berated as US mulls air strikes on advancing militants

BAGHDAD: Top US officials turned on Iraq´s leader, blaming his "sectarian" policies for the country´s crisis as Washington Thursday weighed calls for air strikes on Sunni militants bearing down on Baghdad.

The sharp criticism of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came as he scrambled to repel an insurgent onslaught that has seen an entire province and parts of three others fall out of government control in an offensive that could threaten Iraq´s very existence.

The militants´ swift advance has sparked international alarm and the United Nations has warned that the crisis was "life-threatening for Iraq".

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been displaced in the nine days of fighting and an unknown number killed, while dozens of Indians and Turks have been kidnapped.

With President Barack Obama mulling a request by Baghdad for air strikes on the advancing militants, US officials castigated Maliki, publicly echoing long-held criticisms among his domestic opponents of sectarianism.

US Vice President Joe Biden urged greater political inclusion in Iraq in phone calls with Maliki and other Iraqi officials, the White House said.

Biden "stressed the need for national unity in responding to the ISIL threat against all Iraqi communities," in calls with Maliki, Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani, it said.

The top-ranking military officer, General Martin Dempsey, and former US commander David Petraeus both also rounded on the premier.

"There is very little that could have been done to overcome the degree to which the government of Iraq had failed its people," Dempsey said.

Petraeus warned at a conference in London that Washington risked becoming an "air force for Shiite militias" and supporting "one side of what could be a sectarian civil war" if political reconciliation were not agreed.

Iraq requests strikes
The remarks came after Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters in Saudi Arabia that Baghdad had asked Washington "to conduct air strikes against terrorist groups".

Zebari acknowledged "the need for drastic political solutions.

"Washington has deployed an aircraft carrier to the Gulf and sent military personnel to bolster security at its Baghdad embassy, but Obama insists a return to combat in Iraq is not in the cards.

The United States spent billions of dollars over several years training and arming Iraqi security forces after disbanding the Sunni-led army following the 2003 invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.

But the security forces wilted when faced with the militant offensive on June 9 which saw insurgents quickly capture Mosul, a city of some two million people, and then parts of Salaheddin, Kirkuk and Diyala provinces.

Some abandoned their vehicles and uniforms when faced with the insurgents, which are led by ISIL fighters but also include Saddam loyalists.

The Sunni fighters have been led by the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but also include a wide coalition of other Sunni Arab militant groups, as well as loyalists of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Though the alliance has made significant territorial gains, the wildly divergent ideologies of its constituent groups means it may struggle to survive over time, analysts say.

And while they struggled in the early part of the offensive, Iraq´s security forces appear to be performing better in recent days, managing to make advances in certain areas, though militants have made their own gains elsewhere.

Zarb-e-Azb: 232 militants killed, 8 security men martyred so far

PESHAWAR: Over 232 militants have been killed during military operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan, Geo News reported.

This was unveiled during a briefing to PM Nawaz Sharif, who visited Corps Headquarters Peshawar here on Friday.

Nawaz Sharif was informed that 232 terrorists have been killed and 20 militant hideouts have been destroyed so far during the operation.

Eight security men were martyred while seven others wounded in Zarb-e-Azb.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Corps Headquarters Peshawar and laid a floral wreath at Yadgar-e-Shohada.

PM Nawaz also offered special prayer (Duaa) for the eternal peace of the Shohada (martyrs).

Upon arrival at Corps Headquarters, PM Nawaz was received by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and Corps Commander Peshawar Lt. Gen. Khalid Rabbani.

Governor Khyber Pakthunkhwa Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif and Federal Minister for SAFRON also accompanied the Prime Minister.

 

Eight Uzbeks among 23 militants killed in NWA

 

MIRANSHAH: Military authorities on Thursday said that helicopter gunships destroyed militants’ communication centres established on hilltops towards the east of North Waziristan’s headquarters Miranshah.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said 23 militants, eight of them Uzbeks, were killed when the Pakistan Army helicopter gunships pounded their positions on Zartatangi hilltops east of Miranshah.

Tribal sources in Miranshah said they had seen the helicopters targeting the mountains at some distance from the residential area but were unable to confirm the name of the hilltop ‘Zartatangi’ where the ISPR claimed the militants had established communication centres.

Also, the ISPR statement said snipers of the Pakistan Army killed eight Uzbek militants when they were planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the Miranshah-Mir Ali Road on Wednesday night.There was no further detail in the ISPR statement whether the bodies of the slain Uzbek militants were taken away by the militants or were in the possession of security forces.

After the government launched a major military operation codenamed “Zarb-e-Azb” against the local and foreign militants in North Waziristan last Sunday, the Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft and army’s helicopter gunships began pounding the suspected positions of the militants in the tribal region.

It is expected that an extensive ground offensive will be launched in North Waziristan once evacuation of the civilian population is completed. Almost 140,000 persons are reported to have fled North Waziristan and entered Bannu since the launching of the operation.

APP adds from Islamabad: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif visited the Air Headquarters here on Thursday and called on Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt.According to the ISPR, progress of the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb was reviewed and matters of mutual interest were discussed.NNI adds: Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt welcomed General Raheel Sharif to the Air Headquarters. Both chiefs also agreed on strategies to make the operation more effective.

Iraq: militants overrun most of Mosul

BAGHDAD: In a stunning assault that exposed Iraq´s eroding central authority, al-Qaida-inspired militants overran much of Mosul on Tuesday, seizing government buildings, pushing out security forces and capturing military vehicles as thousands of residents fled the second-largest city.

The rampage by the black banner-waving insurgents was a heavy defeat for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as he tries to hold onto power, and highlighted the growing strength of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The group has been advancing in both Iraq and neighboring Syria, capturing territory in a campaign to set up a militant enclave straddling the border.

There were no immediate estimates on how many people were killed in the assault, a stark reminder of the reversals in Iraq since U.S. forces left in late 2011.

Earlier this year, Islamic State fighters took control of Fallujah, and government forces have been unable to take it back.

Mosul is a much bigger, more strategic prize. The city and surrounding Ninevah province, which is on the doorstep of Iraq´s relatively prosperous Kurdish region, are a major export route for Iraqi oil and a gateway to Syria.

"This isn´t Fallujah. This isn´t a place you can just cordon off and forget about," said Michael Knights, a regional security analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "It´s essential to Iraq."

Al-Maliki pressed parliament to declare a state of emergency that would grant him greater powers, saying the public and government must unite "to confront this vicious attack, which will spare no Iraqi."

Legal experts said these powers could include imposing curfews, restricting public movements and censoring the media.

State TV said lawmakers would convene Thursday. Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, from Mosul, called the rout "a disaster by any standard."

Regaining Mosul poses a daunting challenge for the prime minister. The city of about 1.4 million and many in the community are already deeply embittered against the government.

During the nearly nine-year American presence in the country, Mosul was a major stronghold for al-Qaida. U.S. and Iraqi forces carried out repeated offensives there, regaining a semblance of control but never routing the insurgents entirely.

"It´s going to be difficult to reconstitute the forces to clear and hold the city," Knights said. "There aren´t a lot of spare forces around Iraq."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest deplored what he called the "despicable" acts of violence against civilians in Mosul. He said Washington is committed to its partnership with Baghdad but is urging the government to take steps to be more inclusive of all Iraqis.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks across Iraq in recent days "that have killed and wounded scores of civilians." He urged all political leaders "to show national unity against the threats facing Iraq, which can only be addressed on the basis of the constitution and within the democratic political process," according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Insurgents and Iraqi troops have been fighting for days in Mosul, but the security forces´ hold appeared to collapse late Monday night and early Tuesday.

Gunmen overran the Ninevah provincial government building — a key symbol of state control — Monday evening, and the governor fled the city. The fighters stormed police stations, bases and prisons, capturing weapons and freeing inmates.

Security forces melted away, abandoning many of their posts, and militants seized large caches of weapons.

They took control of the city´s airport and captured helicopters, as well as an airbase 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of the city, the parliament speaker said.

Later Tuesday, Islamic State fighters took over the large town of Hawija, 125 kilometers (75 miles) south of Mosul, according to officials there.

On Tuesday, the militants appeared to hold much of the eastern half of Mosul, which is bisected by the Tigris River.

Residents said fighters were raising the black banners that are the emblem of the Islamic State.

Video taken from a car driving through the streets of Mosul and posted online showed burning vehicles in the streets, black-masked gunmen in pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, and residents walking with suitcases.

ISIL supporters posted photos on social media showing fighters next to Humvees and other US-made military vehicles captured from Iraqi forces. (AP)

US mulls air strikes as Iraq militants advance on Baghdad

KIRKUK: Militants have seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit as a jihadist offensive sweeps closer to Baghdad, prompting the UN Security Council to convene crisis talks Thursday while the US mulls air strikes on the rebels.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized the second city of Mosul on Tuesday and has since captured a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq including Tikrit -- the hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani promised the battle would "rage" on the capital Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital that is considered one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims, the SITE Intelligence Group said.

The UN Security Council swiftly convened a meeting to discuss the crisis in a sign of growing international alarm at the fast-moving situation.

Diplomats said the closed consultations would begin at 11:30 am (1530 GMT) and will include a briefing by video link from the UN special representative to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov.

Washington is considering several options for offering military assistance to Baghdad, including drone strikes, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Resorting to such aircraft -- used in Afghanistan and Pakistan in a highly controversial programme -- would mark a dramatic shift in the US engagement in Iraq, after the last American troops pulled out in late 2011.State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US was committed to "working with the Iraqi government and leaders across Iraq to support a unified approach against ISIL´s continued aggression.

"But there is no current plan to send US troops back into Iraq, where around 4,500 American soldiers died in the bitter conflict.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington "strongly condemns" the ISIL attacks and "will stand with Iraqi leaders".

And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community to unite behind Iraq, warning that "terrorism must not be allowed to succeed in undoing the path toward democracy in Iraq."

Iraq’s Tikrit falls to militants as offensive quickens

KIRKUK: Militants seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit Wednesday but their assault on Samarra was repulsed as a lightning offensive launched in second city Mosul swept closer to Baghdad.

Since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant began their spectacular assault in Mosul late Monday, militants have captured a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq, prompting as many as half a million people to flee their homes.

The speed with which ISIL and its allies have advanced after their seizure Tuesday of Mosul -- a city of two million people -- has sent alarm bells ringing not only in Baghdad but in Western capitals.

In a statement on Twitter, ISIL vowed that it would "not stop this series of blessed invasions" that has seen the fall of the whole of Nineveh province in the north and swathes of Kirkuk and Saleheddin provinces further south.

Tikrit -- hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein -- was the second provincial capital to fall in.

All of Tikrit is in the hands of the militants," a police colonel said of the Salaheddin provincial capital, which lies roughly half way between Baghdad and Mosul.

A police major said the militants had freed some 300 inmates from a prison there. (AFP)

 

Militants plan to march on Baghdad: SITE monitors

WASHINGTON: Militants who have seized a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq now plan to march on the capital Baghdad, a US-based monitoring group said Wednesday.

In a lightning offensive, militants seized Tikrit earlier, its latest success following a spectacular assault late Monday on Mosul, a city of two million.

The militants´ advances have forced as many as half a million people to flee their homes.

ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani promised that the battle would "rage" on Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital, the SITE Intelligence Group said.

"Do not relent against your enemy... The battle is not yet raging, but it will rage in Baghdad and Karbala," Adnani said, according to a SITE translation of an audio statement released on the militants´ Twitter feed. "Put on your belts and get ready."

Adnani also dismissed President Nuri al-Maliki as woefully incompetent. "What have you done to your people, O foolish one. No one is more foolish than you but those who accept you as the president and commander," Adnani said in the translated statement.

"What do you know about policy, leadership, and military command? You lost a historic opportunity for your people to control Iraq, and the people will always curse you for as long as they live. Indeed, there is between us and you a balance to be made even." (AFP)

Militants’ hideouts in tribal areas to be destroyed

RAWALPINDI: The formation commanders meeting at the General Headquarters chaired by the Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday decided to completely destroy the hideouts of terrorists in the tribal areas.

The commanders affirmed that the Pakistan Army would not allow the sacrifices of its martyrs go in vain.While speaking on the occasion, General Raheel Sharif vowed that terrorist elements would be eliminated at all costs.

The COAS said the sacrifices rendered by those in the war against terrorism would not go in vain.The half-yearly meeting was attended by all the corps commanders and formation commanders.

Comprehensive briefings on the security situation of the country as well as professional matters relating to the military came under discussion.In the meeting, it was also decided to track down the terrorists and monitor their movements across the country. To dismantle the terror networks, the army resolved to coordinate closely with intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

The meeting also discussed the situation on the Pak-Afghan border, the military operation in North Waziristan and Tirah Valley, national security as well as professional matters.It was also decided that the Airport Security Force (ASF) would be trained by the military in order to counter any future attacks.

It also reviewed the goals achieved in North Waziristan and Tirah Valley.The meeting was held when the Taliban-claimed attacks on Karachi airport raised questions about the ability of the authorities to secure key facilities in the face of a resurgent enemy.

FC kills 10 BLA militants in operation

 

QUETTA: Ten militants, belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) were killed in an operation by the Frontier Corps (FC) in the Kandiari area, bordering Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, on Sunday. Three hideouts of miscreants have also been destroyed.
The security forces also recovered explosives, IEDs and landmines from the possession of the miscreants.According to the IG FC, the militants were involved in attacks on Sui-gas installations and the railway track. He vowed that the operation would continue against the culprits till its logical end.

According to another report, some armed persons gunned down a man in the Sariab area of Quetta on Sunday morning.Rescue sources said that unidentified armed motorbike riders targeted a man standing beside the road and opened fire at him grievously injuring him. The injured man succumbed to his injuries, while Edhi volunteers were shifting him to the hospital.

The motive behind this target killing could not immediately be known, as further investigations are in progress.Meanwhile, unidentified armed men attacked a Nato oil tanker near the Lal Shah area of Dera Murad Jamali on Sunday. However, no loss of life was reported.

According to reports, the Nato tanker was heading to Afghanistan from Karachi when armed men attacked it near Lal Shah with indiscriminate firing. Flames soon engulfed the tanker.When informed, security forces, police and rescue teams reached the spot. Fire fighters had to face difficulties in extinguishing the fire due to its intensity.Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Noor Muhammad said the police had cordoned off the area to go after the culprits. However, no arrest had been made so far, added the DSP.

Militants seize Anbar University campus in Iraq: police

RAMADI: Jihadists took staff and students hostage on Saturday at a university campus in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, where security forces have been battling rebels for months, police said.

The militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, seized the Anbar University campus after killing its guards, they added.

30 militants killed in Dera Bugti operation

 

QUETTA: As many as 30 separatist rebels were killed as paramilitary forces launched an operation in Dera Bugti on Thursday.
“The forces surrounded the militants early morning on Thursday and the operation culminated with the killing of 30 militants and arrest of three others,” Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti said while giving details of the operation launched to quell the militancy in the area.

He added that a paramilitary trooper was killed and five others sustained bullet wounds during the action. The injured personnel were being shifted to a nearby hospital. “We have recovered 350 kilogrammes of explosive material and 300 landmines,” he said and added that around eight hideouts of militants were also destroyed by security forces.

Bugti said the militants were members of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), whose two main commanders were also killed in the operation. “The forces also got freed two local Bugti men kidnapped for ransom by the militants,” he added.

The home minister said the provincial government would ensure security of the people at all costs. “The government of Balochistan has a very clear policy that the provincial government will take strict action against whosoever challenges the writ of the government, kills innocent people or attacks security forces,” he said, adding that the operation was a part of the policy.

Meanwhile, two gas pipelines of 16-inch diameter were blown up with explosives by unidentified terrorists in the Pir Koh area.According to security sources, the terrorists planted explosive devices under main pipelines supplying gas from gas wells number 13 and 30 of the main junction to the Pir Koh plant.After the explosion, the gas supply to the Pir Koh plant was suspended, causing reduction in production of gas in the plant.

Yemen says 500 Qaeda militants killed in 5-week offensive

SANAA: Yemeni forces have killed 500 suspected Al-Qaeda militants in an all-out offensive against them in their southern strongholds that began on April 29, the army spokesman said Thursday.

Forty soldiers were killed and another 100 wounded in the operation in the provinces of Shabwa and Abyan, in which 39 militants were captured, Colonel Saeed al-Fakeih told reporters. "We will press on with our war against Al-Qaeda, especially in the regions that (militants) fled to," he said.

The army launched the offensive against Al-Qaeda in Shabwa and neighbouring Abyan in a bid to expel its forces from smaller towns and villages that escaped a previous sweep in 2012.Troops and militia have entered a series of towns, but analysts say their advances could be the result of a tactical retreat by the militants in coordination with local tribes.

Taking advantage of a collapse of central authority during a 2011 uprising that forced veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh from power, Al-Qaeda seized large swathes of the south and east.

They remain deeply entrenched in Hadramawt province further east, where they have carried out a series of spectacular attacks in recent months.

Sui: 30 militants killed during search operation

SUI: At least thirty militants have been killed during a search operation carried out by security forces in Sui, Balochistan.

According to Balochistan Home Minister, Mir Sarfaraz Bugti thrity militants were killed during the operation. He added that a large amount of explosives have also been recovered while eight militant hideouts were destroyed.

The provincial home minister adds that a member of the security forces was also killed during the operation.

Militants storm checkposts in Bajaur from Afghanistan Four soldiers killed

 

KHAR: Four soldiers were killed and four others sustained injuries when Afghanistan-based militants attacked the security forces checkposts in the Mamond Tehsil of Bajaur Agency, official sources said on Wednesday.
The sources said the militants attacked the security forces checkposts in Manro Zangal and Makha Top in Mamond Tehsil with heavy weaponry at 4am.

“Two soldiers were killed and three others sustained injuries in the attack in Manro Zangal while two soldiers were killed and another sustained injuries in an attack on a checkpost in Makha Top,” an official said.

The official sources claimed several militants were killed in the retaliatory fire by the soldiers manning the checkposts.However, the claim could not be confirmed from independent sources due to the inaccessibility of the area for journalists.

Local sources said the exchange of fire continued for several hours. The security forces sources said the militants escaped from the area after the forces returned the fire.It was the third such attack in Mamond Tehsil during the last two weeks. The sources said security forces had beefed up the security in the border villages.

Around 19 militants were killed and five Frontier Corps soldiers were injured in clashes between the security forces and militants on May 25 and 31.

APP adds: Pakistan condemned the unprovoked attacks from the Afghan side and the matter was raised with the Afghan government in Kabul and with their embassy in Islamabad.

The Foreign Office spokesperson, in a statement, said early Wednesday morning, two Pakistani border posts — Manro Zangal and Makha Tops in Bajaur Agency — were attacked by terrorists from Afghanistan.

The spokesperson said as a result of this unprovoked firing, two Pakistani soldiers were martyred and three others, including one officer, were injured.Pakistan said it was the third incident of cross-border attack in the last 10 days.

The spokesperson said it had been emphasized that Afghanistan must take concrete steps to stop the use of its territory against Pakistan. For its part, Pakistan remains committed to supporting all efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan, said the spokesperson.

10 militants killed in operation on Panjgur-Awaran border

QUETTA: Security forces killed at least 10 separatist militants in the adjoining areas of Awaran and Panjgur on Monday.

Several militants’ hideouts were destroyed and heavy arms were recovered while three soldiers were wounded in the incident.The militants belonged to the outlawed Lashkar-e-Balochistan and Baloch Liberation Front.

The FC Special Wing, Awaran Militia and Panjgur Rifles took part in the operation in which a helicopter was also used. A spokesman of the Frontier Corps (FC) said that three hideouts of the militants and two vehicles were destroyed.

The FC said it launched an operation against the militants’ hideouts in the mountainous Panjgur district on Monday morning. “Ten militants were killed in heavy exchange of fire this morning,” said FC spokesman Wasay Khan.

The operation took place after Latif Johar, a member of the separatist Baloch Students Organisation (Azad), went on a hunger strike 11 days ago to demand the release of the group’s chairman and more than 100 detained members.

In the past three years, bodies of hundreds of members of Baloch political parties, student groups and poets have been discovered across the province, and many more are still missing.Baloch activists say the bodies are evidence that the army is pursuing a systematic ‘kill and dump’ campaign to crush the separatist movement — a charge the army has repeatedly denied.

60 militants dead after major attack on Afghan army post

 

KABUL: Afghan forces repulsed an assault by hundreds of militants, many from across the border, officials said on Wednesday, in the biggest clashes since the presidential election almost four weeks ago.
NATO air support was called in to help beat back the attack that left 60 militants and at least five Afghan soldiers dead at an army base near the porous border on Monday night. “A group of terrorists and foreign fighters numbering about 500... launched a big operation targeting army posts in Zirok district of Paktika province,” the Afghan defence ministry said in a statement.

It said the militants were trying to score a high-profile victory after failing to mount a significant attack on polling day despite threatening to target voters, election officials and security forces.

The Afghan National Directorate of Security, the country’s intelligence agency, said 300 fighters from the Haqqani network, which is allied to the Taliban, and other insurgents were involved.

“Haqqani and foreign fighters along with suicide attackers carried out an assault on the night of April 28 to capture a military base in Zirok district,” it said. “As a result of a counter-attack by government forces backed by coalition air force, 60 members of the Haqqani group and other foreign fighters were killed and a large number injured.”

The Haqqani network is blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan, including bombings of the US and Indian embassies in Kabul. A Haqqani source in Pakistan confirmed Monday’s incident to AFP. “Allied forces and the Afghan army retaliated to the assault and killed 60 fighters,” he said.

“The fighters left and took with them 40 bodies of their colleagues and 12 Afghan soldiers who were alive.” The Haqqani source said the bodies of 20 militants were with the Afghans and a message had been sent offering to exchange the captured soldiers for them. Afghan officials said only one soldier had been taken hostage