Troops kill five Taliban in Bajaur

The Daily Times, Pakistan, February 20, 2010

KHAR:

 Pakistani fighter jets and helicopter gunships bombarded Taliban hideouts in Bajaur Agency on Friday and killed five Pakistani Taliban fighters. Backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships, security forces used heavy artillery, destroying several Taliban hideouts in Banda and Ghundo areas of Nawagai tehsil, and also killed five Taliban in the process.

The security forces seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition during search operations in various areas of Nawagai tehsil, where five Taliban also laid down their arms and surrendered to the troops.

Separately, the political administration announced the reopening of all educational institutions in Khar tehsil, and directed all teachers to report to duty.

Separately, the Mardan police apprehended six ‘most-wanted’ Taliban, and seized 11 kilogrammes of explosive powder along with dynamite from a cave during search operations in the district’s mountainous region.

According to a Mardan police spokesman, the six arrested suspects included Shah Jehan, Jehanzeb Khan, Lajbar, Jehanzeb, Sher Ali and Abdullah, APP reported Acting on a tip-off, the conducted a search operation in the mountains of Sawaldher, Rama, Katlang and Choora in the early hours of Friday, which resulted in the most-wanted militants’ arrest. staff report /app

Two Taliban fighters involved in GHQ attack killed in encounter

FAISALABAD:

Two suspected Taliban fighters allegedly involved in the attack on General Headquarters (GHQ) were killed in a police encounter on Friday, while two of their accomplices were arrested.

Intelligence officials and police commandoes intercepted four Taliban fighters near the State Bank building in Civil Lines. In an exchange of fire, two of them were killed and the other two were arrested. Police also seized eight hand-grenades, one kalashnikov and four pistols from their possession.

Those killed were identified as Tahir alias Moaz alias Umer Kundi and Adil Ali, while those in custody have been identified as Ehsanur Rehman alias Hamza and Muhammad Ali.

Police sources said Umer Kundi and Adil were wanted in attacks on GHQ, Lahore’s Manawan Police Training Centre and Rescue-15 building in Lahore. app

Taliban leader's brother killed by US missile

By Munir Ahmad And Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press Writers –

Fri Feb 19, 2010, 12:39 pm ET

ISLAMABAD –

A suspected CIA missile attack has killed the brother of one of an Afghan Taliban commander, Pakistan intelligence officials said Friday, the latest in a series of strikes against the heart of the insurgent movement's leadership.

Siraj Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani group faction, was the apparent target of the Thursday attack in a village in the North Waziristan area near the Afghan border, two officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. Haqqani's brother, Mohammed Haqqani, and three others were killed, the officials said.

Pakistani authorities working with the CIA arrested Baradar about two weeks ago in Karachi, Pakistani and U.S. officials have said. The shadow governors — Mullah Abdul Salam of Kunduz province and Mullah Mohammad in Baghlan province — were arrested around the same time, Afghan officials said.

Two intelligence officials said Friday that nearly three dozen suspects had been arrested since Baradar's capture in the Pakistani provinces of Sindh, Baluchistan and Punjab — some of them because of information gleaned from the Taliban leader. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media.

Taliban spokesmen have denied the arrests of the senior figures, accusing NATO of spreading propaganda to undermine the morale of Taliban fighters holding out in Marjah against the biggest NATO military operation of the eight-year war. Thousands of U.S., British and Afghan troops are battling militants in the Taliban stronghold in southern Helmand province, a center of the militants' supply and drug-smuggling network.

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Associated Press writers Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Nahal Toosi in Islamabad contributed to this report.