Pakistan battles leave 5 troops, 28 Taliban fighters dead

November 5, 2009

ISLAMABAD (AFP) –

Pakistan's military said Thursday it had killed 28 Taliban fighters and lost five soldiers in the latest battles of a major offensive in the South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan launched a fierce air and ground offensive into the northwest region on October 17, with 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships laying siege to Tehreek-e-Taliban bolt-holes.

"In last 24 hours, 28 (Taliban fighters) have been killed, while five were apprehended. Security forces losses are five soldiers," the military said in a statement.

The soldiers were killed in a blast in the strategic town of Sararogha, a former operational base of late Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud, and 16 militants were killed in an ensuing gunbattle, it said.

Troops killed seven (Taliban fighters) at villages between Taliban strongholds Shakai and Kanigurram in retaliation for a rocket attack, it added.

The military provides the only regular information coming from the frontlines. None of the details can be verified because communication lines are down and journalists and aid workers barred from the area.

In Islamabad, the United Nations urged Pakistan to ensure safety for civilians and aid workers during the ongoing offensive.

"We are very concerned that all who are involved in the military operations must take the absolute first priority to assure safety and security of the civilians," UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Mogwanja told reporters.

US-based Human Rights Watch last week said it had received reports of civilian deaths and the destruction of property during the operations.

US strike kills five militants in Pakistan: officials

Thu Nov 5, 2009, 6:49 am ET

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) –

Suspected US missiles killed five (alleged Taliban fighters) in Pakistan's tribal belt on Thursday, not far from where 30,000 troops are battling a major offensive against home-grown Taliban.

The attack, which Pakistani officials said was carried out by a US drone, targeted a house in North Waziristan, where Washington says (Taliban fighters) fighting 100,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan are hiding.

"It was a US drone attack which targeted a compound of a local tribesman, Musharraf Gul, in Norak village," a senior security official told AFP.

Another security official confirmed the attack and said "Taliban rebels were using the compound. Five were killed and four others wounded." Two missiles were fired from a US drone at 1:30 am (2030 GMT Wednesday), he said.

"It is not clear if there was any high-value target," the official said, adding: "We also do not know yet the identity of the militants."

Residents and security officials said Musharraf, aged between 28 and 30, was a cab driver who had fraternised with militants for more than 18 months.

"Musharraf opened fire after the missile strike in a bid to keep villagers away. He buried the bodies of (Taliban fighters) killed in the attack with the help of fellow rebels, who are still guarding the place," said a security official.

Although Pakistan opposes US drone attacks on its soil as a violation of its sovereignty, the government's public condemnation of the strikes has subsided since a US missile killed Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud in August.

Around 63 attacks have killed more than 610 people since August 2008, fanning anti-American sentiment in nuclear-armed Pakistan, where around 2,440 people have died in a wave of (Taliban fighters) attacks since July 2007.

The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the pilotless drones in the region.

Thursday's strike comes with around 30,000 Pakistani troops, backed by warplanes and attack helicopters, pressing a major offensive against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in neighbouring South Waziristan.

Pakistan has vowed to crush the TTP, holding the umbrella organisation responsible for a surge in (Taliban fighters) attacks and bombings targeting civilians and security personnel across the country.

The United Nations on Thursday stepped up calls on Pakistan to ensure safety for civilians and aid workers in the areas of conflict.

"We are very concerned that all who are involved in the military operations must take the absolute first priority to assure safety and security of the civilians," UN humanitarian coordinator Martin Mogwanja told reporters.

"It is most particularly essential that the humanitarian organisations should be provided with safe access to the areas of displacement and also to the areas, ultimately, of conflict so that we can provide the necessary assistance, protection and services to the affected population."

Pakistan launched its three-pronged offensive on October 17 and the military has said it has captured a string of TTP-held towns and villages, and most of Mehsud's once-operational base of Sararogha.

The military provides the only regular information coming from the frontlines. None of the details can be verified because communication lines are down and journalists and aid workers barred from the area.

So far, the military says more than 390 (alleged Taliban fighters) and 37 troops have been killed since the offensive began -- far fewer military losses than in previous offensives into South Waziristan that ended with controversial peace deals. Related article: Militants blow up girl's school