Pakistan troops killed 15 militants in tribal region

Dec 10, 2009, 15:12 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistan troops killed at least 15 militants in the country's troubled north western badlands near the Afghan border, officials said on Thursday.

The security forces have been fighting with Islamic militants on various fronts in the tribal belt in recent months amid lethal bombing attacks on main towns and security establishments that have left hundreds of people dead in the last few weeks.

Major Fazalur Rehman, a spokesman of the paramilitary Frontier Corps said on Thursday that 10 of the militants were killed during a search operation in Khyber, one of seven tribal districts, where hundreds of troops are hunting the militants.

'Many others were injured and arms and ammunition have also been recovered,' added Rehman.

Khyber is lawless territory that hosts the main land route for supplies to the US and NATO troops fighting Taliban in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Militants belonging to the Lashkar-e-Islam outfit are believed to have conducted several attacks in the neighbouring city of Peshawar, the capital of North Western Frontier Province, as well as on convoys transporting supplies for NATO.

Separately, the security forces killed five militants in South Waziristan, where army is battling Tekrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants alleged for several terrorist attacks inside Pakistan and across border raids on NATO forces in Afghanistan.

A statement by the army spokesman said Thursday that all 'five terrorists were killed near Kaniguram,' once considered a stronghold of militants. During the encounter one soldier was also killed and another injured.

Nearly 30,000 troops launched a military operation, codenamed Path to Deliverance, on October 17 in South Waziristan. Army officials say more than 589 militants and at least 79 soldiers have been killed.

The figures are hard to verify independently as the region is closed to the journalists.

The United States fighting Taliban in Afghanistan has appreciated Pakistan's military operations in the tribal areas, as it plans to bolster its forces in Afghanistan to battle the growing insurgency.