PESHAWAR: Afghan militants again entered border areas of the Upper Dir district on Friday, officials said.
A security official in Peshawar confirmed to The Express Tribune that the incursion occurred in the Nusrat Darra area, adding that the authorities had dispatched helicopter gunships to target the militants.The official, however, said he had no information about the number of casualties in the fighting.
A police official in Dir said local people had forced the militants to flee after a fierce gunfight. He said that the militants had come from Kunar, across the border.
Another senior police official in Dir said that army and police personnel had launched a joint operation for clearing the area of militants.
He said that the militants were mainly Afghan Taliban, but there were also some Taliban fighters from Swat and the Maidan area of Lower Dir among them.
On Wednesday, hundreds of militants had attacked a security check post in the Shaltalo area in Upper Dir district on Wednesday as a result of which at least 27 security personnel and 45 militants were killed.
Also on Friday, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the check post. “Up to 40 to 50 of our fighters took part in the operation,” said a spokesperson for TTP, who identified himself as Ehsanullah Ehsan, over telephone. “None of our fighters were killed.”
“We are in close contact with Afghan Taliban. Both of us want to get rid of America and its slaves. Our activities will continue,” said Ehsan.
The area where the clash took place is said to be situated some 70 kilometers from Dir town and near the Afghan province of Kunar.
Meanwhile, at least four persons, including three Khasadar troops were injured after a remote-controlled bomb went off in Jamrud tehsil of the Khyber Agency, officials said.
Jamrud political tehsildar Riaz Khan told reporters that the blast took place near the Ghundi Canal area near a tent pitched up by the personnel of the Khasadar force. He said that the bomb had exploded when the Khasadar personnel were having lunch.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2011.