45 militants killed in Tirah blitz: officials

By Said Nazir Afridi & Ashrafuddin Pirzada

BARA/LANDIKOTAL: At least 15 people, including five militants and 10 civilians, were killed and nine others injured when jet fighters and gunship helicopters shelled different areas in Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency on Tuesday, local sources said.

However, official sources claimed that 45 militants were killed when hideouts of militants were targeted in the attack. The sources said that two jet fighters carried out air strikes against the positions of banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) in Majeed Morcha, Ghaibi Neka, Naray Baba, Sandapal, Nangroosa, Speen Drand and Sandana areas of Tirah Valley early in the day in which several hideouts of militants were destroyed.

"Subsequently, two gunship helicopters appeared in the valley and carried out shelling in Nangroosa and Sandana areas populated by the Sepah tribe to which the LI head Mangal Bagh belongs," said a driver Shahaan, whose vehicle was destroyed in the shelling.

He said they were on way to Mehraban Killay in Tirah valley from Jamrud Bazaar in three passenger vehicles when they were told by local people in Naray Baba that they should not go ahead as gunship helicopters had been shelling Sandana and Nangroosa areas.

"We waited for a while and when the helicopters disappeared, we reached the Sandana area where helicopters reappeared and hit our vehicles in which 10 civilians were killed and nine others were injured," he added.

"All three passenger vehicles were destroyed and bodies of those killed along with the injured, including women and children, were shifted in other vehicles to the Civil Hospital Jamrud," he said, adding that they saw three other vehicles destroyed in Naray Baba.

"I have seen five bodies of militants lying on roadside in Naray Baba area while I was coming to Jamrud," Younas, another driver of a passenger vehicle who escaped shelling, told this scribe in Jamrud.

An official in the political administration confirmed that six innocent people were killed and four others were injured in the shelling in Sandana area of Tirah Valley. All the dead and injured civilians belonged to the Kukikhel tribe, which has stayed neutral despite the growing militancy in Tirah Valley. The local sources said that houses of two militants were also destroyed in the air strikes in Sandana and Nangroosa.

Official sources claimed that 45 militants were killed and four of their hideouts and five double cabin pickups were destroyed in the bombardment.They admitted that some civilians might have been killed in the shelling but they were the people supporting the militants. They also claimed that militants were using civilians as shield. Meanwhile, a commander of the LI rejected the official claim and said no human or property damage was inflicted on the militants in the shelling.