By KUNA,
Islamabad : At least ten militants were killed Saturday in a security forces operations in two of Pakistan’s northern areas, bordering Afghanistan, said sources.
The security forces backed by helicopter gunships launched an operation in several villages between Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), and Mohmand tribal agency on Friday night. Security sources told KUNA that the forces pounded several militants’ hideouts, destroying some of them. According to media reports, at least 17 militants and 3 civilians were killed in the overnight operation.
Also, sources said, paramilitary troopers opened fire at an explosive-laden vehicle in Michni village, killing three militants including a suicide bomber. They said forces have recovered ammunition and other dangerous explosive materials from the vehicle. In a related incident, at least seven militants were killed in the ongoing military operation in Bajaur tribal agency. They said that the security forces fired mortar shells in several areas of the agency, killing at least seven militants and wounding several others.
The latest operations come amid rising suicide attacks across the country and kidnapping incidents of foreign diplomats. The Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik, talking to reporters, suspected the hand of an outlawed Taliban Movement group behind the kidnapping of foreign diplomats in Peshawar.