By KUNA
Islamabad : Security forces, after a large-scale operation Thursday, claimed killing 40 militants and arresting 30 others in South Waziristan tribal agency, bordering Afghanistan.
Forty miscreants were killed while 30 others apprehended in an operation by the security agencies in South Waziristan on Thursday, said military spokesman, Athar Abbas in a statement.
He said the operation was carried out in the areas of Spinkai Raghazai, Nawazkot, and the surrounding areas of Tiarza, inhabited by Mehsud tribesmen and also the stronghold of militant commander Baitullah Mehsud, accused of being behind the Benazir Bhutto assassination.
“Reportedly, 40 miscreants have been killed in the last 24 hours and 30 miscreants have been apprehended while many (were) injured,” said the statement, adding that eight soldiers were also killed while 32 others suffered injuries.
After days of speculations of a massive operation in the area, security forces Wednesday sent reinforcements, for the first time with tanks and heavy artillery, to the area.
According to tribal sources, more than a thousand Baitullah militant supporters were fighting against the army.
Forces have been pounding militants’ hideouts with heavy and light artillery since Tuesday night while helicopter gunships were also seen buzzing over the area.
The military statement Wednesday said that checkpoints and camps have been reinforced and troops were targeting a stronghold of militants in Razmak and their hideouts in Tiarza.
Purported militant spokesman Maulvi Umar, talking to local daily Dawn, in remarks published Thursday, said that as clashes intensified, the conflict could expand to other areas of Waziristan if the government did not halt the operation.
“We are ready to fight and will attack the army anywhere in Waziristan,” he said.