Foreigners among 20 killed in Bajaur

PESHAWAR - At least 20 Al-Qaeda-linked militants, including eight foreigners, were killed and several others injured when helicopter gunships targeted their suspected hideouts in Badan area of Bajaur Agency, officials disclosed on Wednesday.

The officials in Khar, Headquarters of Bajaur Agency, further said that a number of militants’ strongholds were also destroyed in the strikes.

The officials also claimed that the writ of law has been restored in Khar and its adjoining areas. All the checkposts and roads in the area have been reopened with help of traditional tribal lashkars, the officials added.

They also said that the traditional lashkar of Salarzai tribe, after flushing away the militants, has taken control of the area.

Moreover, 73 militants have been shifted Central Jail Haripur by the political administration of Bajaur Agency, the officials informed.

Meanwhile, the evacuation of Afghan refugees from Bajaur Agency is in progress. Thousands of Afghan refugees have either shifted to adjacent Dir District and Mohmand Agency or have gone to Kunar province of Afghanistan.

Agencies add: “Twelve local and eight foreign militants including their important commanders were killed in the successful airstrike,” a security official told AFP.

“The action was taken after observing militants’ movements in Badan, the village of Taliban leader Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, the deputy of Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud,” the official added.

A government official, Muhammad Jamil Khan, earlier said that 12 militants, including two foreigners were killed by helicopter gunships in the Badan area. He did not disclose the nationality of the two “foreigners,” a term used by Pakistan authorities for Al-Qaeda militants.