By DPA
Islamabad : The Pakistani military has claimed to have killed at least 33 militants as heavily-armed supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric gained control over a third town in the north-western valley of Swat.
“We apprehended four militants near the valley’s Saido Sharif airport when their armed supporters came for their help but our forces repelled the attack, killing six of them,” army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told the Dawn news channel Wednesday.
Ten more rebels were killed as helicopter gunships pounded militant positions in the Matta and Shangla areas of the valley, and another group of 17 died when their truck was blown off a mountainside by helicopter cannon fire, Arshad said.
“We have reports from local sources that everyone on board the vehicle was killed,” he added.
At least two soldiers were also killed and five others injured when the militants fired several rockets at the soldiers deployed at the airport, state-run Pakistan Television reported.
The strikes came a day after Islamic militants gained control of another town in the scenic Swat valley, a former tourist destination located a four-hour drive away from the capital Islamabad that has seen heavy fighting in the past two weeks.
About 400 gunmen travelling in 16 trucks entered Alpuri, the main town in Shangla district, Tuesday night and seized its government buildings and police headquarters, the Pakistani daily The News reported.
Arshad confirmed the advance but refused to give details of the fighting.
Alpuri was the third major town in the Swat Valley that has fallen to the Islamic militia organised by the firebrand cleric Maulana Fazlullah since late October when Pakistani troops were sent to restrain him from enforcing Taliban rule in the area.
Scores of people, including several dozen security personnel, have died in clashes this month.
Meanwhile, at least two soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack on a security convoy in the neighbouring Malakand agency, apparently by supporters of Fazlullah, according to Dawn. But the army spokesman denied the report.