By DPA
Islamabad : Up to 30 Islamic militants and two soldiers were killed Friday when Pakistan’s security forces launched an offensive in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan to recover four trucks carrying ammunition rebels had seized the day before, the army said.
“A group of six hired civilian trucks, which were carrying stores and supplies, including some ammunition, was intercepted by miscreants at Dara Adam Khel Thursday and four of these were hijacked,” a statement from the Pakistani Army said.
The attackers also briefly captured six soldiers accompanying the trucks that were travelling from a military base in Kohat, some 65 km from the North-West Frontier Province capital Peshawar, to the tribal area where security forces are fighting Al Qaeda and pro-Taliban militants.
After the failure of peace talks with the rebels through tribal elders Friday morning, hundreds of military and paramilitary troops with the backing of tanks, helicopter gunships and artillery, began targeting militant positions in the mountains.
“The security forces have cleared important heights, and 25 to 30 miscreants have been killed,” the army’s chief spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, said.
Two soldiers from the paramilitary Frontier Corps also died, and 10 others were injured in the firefight.
The firefight came a day after 40 militants and 10 soldiers were killed in a separate military action against the followers of pro-Taliban tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan district.
Mehsud has been accused of masterminding the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Pakistan’s restive tribal belt is a safe haven for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters carrying out cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.