Three militants held with arms in Kohat

Source The News

Security forces arrested three suspected militants and seized a huge cache of arms near Kohat Tunnel on Saturday, official sources said.

The sources said the security forces pulled over a truck heading to Dera Ismail Khan from Darra Adamkhel and on thorough search recovered heavy arms, including 15 Kalakov rifles, 11 Kalashnikov rifles, 10 machine-guns, six grenade launchers, 10 repeaters, 95 pistols and 30,000 cartridges, besides explosive materials from the secret cavities of the truck.

Militants blow up tower in hangu

Source Dawn

Unknown militants blew up a tower of a cellular phone company in Togh Sarai area of Hangu district in the wee hours of Wednesday, sources said.

They said that the militants planted improvised explosive devices around the four pillars of the tower and blew it up. As a result, the tower was completely destroyed.

Hangu police have registered the case against unknown militants.

Colonel among 6 troops killed in Orakzai blast

Source Daily Times

A lieutenant colonel of the Pakistan Army and five other soldiers were killed when a roadside time bomb exploded in Hangu district on Friday, official sources said. It was the third deadly attack on paramilitary troops patrolling the tribal belt this week.


A security forces’ convoy of eight personnel was on its way to the Thall town from Ghiljo area of Orakzai Agency when it was attacked by terrorists through a remote-controlled device in the Yakh Kandao area, killing a lieutenant colonel and five other soldiers. Two personnel were hurt in the explosion and soon air lifted to the Kohat CMH.

Hours later, gunship helicopters pounded three spots in Upper Orakzai and the neighbouring Kurram and killed 22 suspected terrorists, local government officials Aurangzeb Khan and Jamil Khan said. It was not immediately clear whether the airstrikes were in retaliation or not.

The bombings showed the fragility of the military’s gains in its offensives against al Qaeda and Taliban along the border with Afghanistan.

Vehicle was targeted in Kohat, Driver killed two injured

Source: Daily Mashriq

In Kohat at village Kwasi Banda near Jerma one moving vehicle comes under attack from militants due to which driver of the vehicle murdered and the accomplices were injured. According to details a social worker of Kwasi Banda Sawab Gul was going to Hangu in vehicle No.PR-8972, when unknown militants hiding along the road starts firing on the vehicle due to which the driver Khursheed Khan died on the spot while Sawab Gul and Abdul Ghafar were injured. They were shifted to Kohat divisional hospital for treatment.
The Police started search in the area and several suspicious people were taken into custody for investigation.

Women, children among 10 killed in Orakzai attack

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Ten people, three women and four children among them, were killed when military planes bombed a house in Feroze Khel area in lower Orakzai Agency on Friday.

Officials said the house of tribal elder Zikria Khan was razed to the ground and four members of his family were killed.

Tribesmen pulled out the bodies from the debris of the house.

Two other houses that were empty were also destroyed.

Officials said that except the women and children most other people who died in the attack were militants.

Independent sources said Zikria Khan and his family had nothing to do with militants and all the victims were civilians.

The officials said that members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban who had escaped from Waziristan were living in the house, adding that the headquarters of Hakimullah Mehsud was earlier located in the area.

MASTERMIND HELD: Security forces arrested an explosives expert from Doaba area in Hangu district on Friday.

The militant was identified as Khan Qasim.

Commander among 17 militants die in Orakzai

POSTED IN DAWN

Seventeen militants, a local ‘commander’ among them, were killed and four compounds and three tunnels were destroyed as helicopter gunships pounded terrorists’ hideouts in Dabori area of Orakzai Agency on Thursday.

The ‘commander’ was identified as Ajmer, officials said, adding that 21 militants were also injured in attacks.

Two militants were also killed and an ammunition depot was put on fire by a tribal lashkar in separate incidents.

Two tribesmen, including a malik, were injured in an exchange of fire with militants in the Stori Khel area.

Tribesmen shoot dead Taliban stuntmen

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Angry tribesmen shot dead four militants for causing disturbance by performing stunts on their motorcycles in Stori Khel area of Orakzai Agency, locals said.

The young militants belonged to Tariq Afridi group of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The group has significant influence in the entire Orakzai Agency.

Sources said that militants were busy in performing stunts and motorcycle race when tribesmen asked them to leave the area because they were violating the tribal code besides causing disturbance.

The militants instead of paying heed to elders’ bidding started more noise and used abusive language against them. The angry tribesmen pulled out their Kalashnikovs and killed all the four militants on the spot on Monday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said that bodies of the killed militants and their motorcycles were lying there and Taliban had not taken any action against the tribesmen.

20 killed in Orakzai air strikes

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Twenty militants were killed and six others injured in air strikes in lower Orakzai Agency on Tuesday evening.

Three camps and four vehicles of the militants were destroyed.

Official sources said that military aircraft and helicopter gunships pounded Taliban hideouts in Sultanzai and Stori Khel.

Unconfirmed reports said the aircraft and helicopters had also attacked a TTP jirga in Sultanzai.

Two militants killed in Hangu

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Two militants were killed in an exchange of fire with police in the Bezoo Kot area of Thall tehsil, Hangu district, on Thursday.

Police constable Khurshid Alam was also injured in the shootout following a raid on a house in the area.

The bodies of killed militants, Amjid and Yar Khan, were taken to a local hospital.

Meanwhile, the Kohat police arrested four militants and 21 criminals during a search operation on Thursday. They also seized four Kalashnikovs, three repeaters, five shotguns, four rifles and seven pistols.

The arrested persons were handed over to a special investigation team

Terrorist killed in Hangu

posted in daily times


Security forces killed a terrorist and injured one of his accomplices during a gunfight in the Wach Bazaar area of Hangu, a district administration official said on Thursday.

The official said some terrorists hurled hand grenades at a house owned by Salamat. The security forces opened fire on the terrorists while they were fleeing, killing one of them and wounding another. The attackers managed to escape along with the dead body and their injured accomplice. The residents of the house remained unhurt.

In another incident, an injured victim of a bomb blast succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. Two daughters and a son of Nameer, a resident of Gul Bagh, Hangu, were wounded in an explosion in their house on Wednesday night.

The injured girls are being treated at the District Headquarters Hospital, Kohat, where their condition is stated to be critical.

4 militants, 3 troops killed in gunbattle

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Four militants and three security personnel were killed in an exchange of fire in Tora Warai area of Hangu district late on Friday night.

Official sources said that militants attacked a check-post near the Tora Warai Fort in Hangu district on Friday night for a second time in the last few days in which three security personnel were killed. Troops returned fire with artillery. The exchange of fire continued for several hours before militants fled, leaving behind four bodies of their accomplices. The bodies were found by troops on Saturday.

Militants had attacked the same check-post a few days ago and four of them were killed by troops in retaliatory fire.

Over a dozen militants were arrested in a crackdown launched by security forces in the Ahmadi Shama area of Lower Kurram on Saturday.

Officials said that security personnel carried out a house-to-house search in the area. Officials said that those arrested were being interrogated. A drone hit a suspected compound in the same area early this year killing over 30 people.

The administration has imposed a curfew in Sadda, the tehsil headquarters of Lower Kurram, while border with Afghanistan was closed for three days on Friday. Meanwhile, troops wrested control of two important positions from militants in Charkhel area.

militants, woman killed in Kurram

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Four militants were killed when security forces exchanged fire with them after attack on a checkpost at Hangu-Parachinar border in the tribal area on Tuesday night.

A woman was also killed and three others were injured when an artillery shell fell at a house in Spim Wam during exchange of fire.

Official sources told Dawn that militants fired three rockets at the security checkpost in Spin Wam area of Kurram Agency which was followed by heavy machinegun fire on Tuesday night. Forces retaliated with artillery shelling and ground troops chased the militants. Security forces claimed that four militants were killed in the shootout.

Village razed to the ground in Hangu

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Militants razed a whole village to the ground in Shahu Khel area by conducting a series of blasts on the third consecutive night in Hangu district on Saturday.

The village had roughly 100 houses and families belonging to a rival sect had been migrating after the Taliban started target killings and kidnappings a few months ago.

The TTP is in complete control of Shahu Khel and its militants started blowing up houses after security forces and police started operations against them and eliminated some of their important training camps and hideouts. They had planted 40 bombs and blown up as many houses on Saturday night. Earlier, they had destroyed two schools, an Imambargah, two houses and a basic health unit on Friday night.

Blasts continued since Saturday night and by Sunday the entire village was razed to the ground. No casualties were reported from the area as the entire village was empty after the migration of the entire population to safer places.

Leaders of the Qaumi Wahdat Council have been urging the government to improve its writ in Shahu Khel so that the people displaced by the Taliban could return to their village.

Security forces have often used artillery fire to stop the Taliban from blowing up houses, but with little success.

It is the same area where a renowned cleric and office-bearer of JUI-F, Maulana Muhammad Amin, was killed in an air strike in his Jamia Yousufia seminary in June last year.

At least 13 people, including children, eight women and prominent religious leaders, were killed and several injured in shelling by helicopter gunships in Hangu. Maulana Muhammad Amin, whose 12-year-old nephew was also killed in the air strike, was also the deputy chairman of Sunni Supreme Council. During shelling at another seminary in Shahu Khel, three women were killed when a house was hit by helicopter gunships.

militants arrested in Kohat

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Police and security forces arrested six suspected militants and two outlaws during the ongoing search operation on Tuesday.

The joint search operation was conducted in Muhammadzai, Shahpur, Jarma, Tappi, Bilitang, Junglekhel and Gumbat areas of Kohat district.

Eight people including two outlaws were arrested after forces carried out raids at suspected hideouts and recovered two Kalashnikovs, three rifles, five pistols, four shotguns and huge quantity of cartridges.

One killed in Kohat shell blast

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One person was killed when a shell fired from unknown location hit the Tirah bazaar.

Security forces pounded militants’ hideouts after the incident.Police sources said two rockets were fired from undisclosed location late on Thursday night among which one was landed in Tirah bazaar and exploded.

A passerby received serious injuries that later died in Liaquat hospital. Forces targeted militants’ positions with heavy artillery in Dara Adamkhel. No causality was reported in the incident.

18 held in Kohat

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Police and security forces arrested 18 suspected militants in Kohat and three fugitives in Hangu on Tuesday.

The police elite force and the security forces conducted operation in different sectors of the KDA Township and Cantonment areas.

During search, they arrested 18 people belonging to tribal areas, who were allegedly involved in terrorist activities. The arrested persons were shifted to an unspecified place amid tight security for interrogation.

In Hangu, the Saddar police raided certain houses in Togh Sarai and Mohammad Khwaja areas on a tip-off that proclaimed offenders were hiding there and arrested three accused, Hashmat Haleem, Mohammad Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan. A hand grenade, one Kalashnikov and dozens of cartridges were also seized from them.

Eight suspects arrested in Kohat

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The police arrested eight suspected persons including two Afghan nationals during search operation in the district on Sunday.

Official sources said the suspects were arrested in Ublan, Sheikhan, Jarma, Merozai and Bilitang areas during search. The suspects included Noor Marjan, Khan Zaman, Naseer Ahmad, Asimuddin, Muzamil, Israruddin and Zarbat Khan.

Two Kalashnikov rifles, three rifles, three shotguns, five pistols and hundreds of rounds were also recovered.Meanwhile, the provincial anti-carlifting cell was mulling action against non-custom paid vehicles and lifted cars as such vehicles were used in the recent car-bombing incidents in the district, the sources added.

Ten held in Hangu

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The district police in a joint operation with the Frontier Constabulary (FC) arrested 10 suspected militants including four kidnappers and recovered weapons from their possession on Saturday. Sources said the joint operation was conducted in the Mardukhel Banda, Gidarwan, Hayatabad, Sifat Banda and Togh Chappar areas in the district. The held militants included Ajab Noor, Muhammad Umar, Naveedur Rahman, Muhammad Rasool, Sakhi, Lahor Khan, Niaz Rasool, Sadiq Shah and Muhammad Shah. Official sources said one machine-gun, five Kalashnikoves rifles, seven shotguns, four rifles, eight pistols and thousands ammunition rounds were recovered from the suspects.

Militants’ hideouts pounded in Darra and Orakzai Agency

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Helicopter gunships pounded militants’ hideouts in Darra Adamkhel and Orakzai Agency on Saturday.

According to official sources, the gunships started targeting suspected hideouts in Shani Kalay, Bostikhel and Sar Mela areas of frontier region of Kohat on Friday night and the blitz continued till Saturday afternoon.

Security forces fired artillery rounds at a route linking Darra Adamkhel with Khyber Agency which is frequently used by militants.

Helicopter gunships also targeted positions in Feroze Khel area of lower Orakzai Agency, believed to be a stronghold of Tariq Afridi group of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. However, there were no reports of casualties.

Meanwhile, armed men belonging to Tariq Afridi group looted two arms shops of pro-government local leader Momin Khan Afridi in Darra Adamkhel bazaar.

A fight is going on between Momin Khan Afridi group and the Tariq Afridi group after the expiry of the deadline given by the former to the latter to vacate the area till Thursday last.

Over 100 held, arms seized in Kohat swoop

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More than 100 suspected militants including 56 illegally staying foreigners were arrested in an operation conducted by the police and Frontier Constabulary in Kohat region on Sunday.

The operation which was largely carried out in parts of the Kohat and Hangu districts along the Orakzai Agency and Frontier Region of Kohat besides the congested city areas, was aimed at wiping out suspected militants.

The DIG, Kohat region, Abdullah Jan said that they were concentrating on the border areas of Hangu and Kohat to plug the unfrequented routes which were used by militants to enter Punjab.

He informed that huge quantity of lethal weapons was also seized from suspects who were being interrogated by a special team.

The police commandoes and FC personnel took part in the clean up operation in which Armoured Personnel Carriers and heavy machine guns were used in the B areas.

Mr Jan said that the operation had become indispensable in the present situation when the terrorists and kidnappers had let loose reign of terror in the region.

The operation was conducted in the light of the information given to police by the intelligence agencies in all the refugee camps in the region.

The seizure included 10 Kalashnikovs, 3 12-bore repeaters, 7 rifles, 15 pistols, 6 shot guns, 800 cartridges of different bores and 18 chargers.