Jets pummel militants' positions in Waziristan

ISLAMABAD - Security forces killed seven more terrorists and apprehended 16 others while five soldiers sustained injuries during the last 24 hours in Malakand, said an ISPR press release issued on Sunday.
In Swat region, one terrorist was killed and six others were arrested during an exchange of fire at Langer, Khawazakhela. The security forces also recovered 15 small machineguns, one sniper rifle, one rifle 8 MM, communication sets, grenades and established a check-post at a road in Akhun Kalle, Dadhran. ISPR said that terrorists attacked a vehicle of the security forces at Dakorak-Allahbad Road, which resultantly injured five soldiers.
The press release further said that the security forces successfully secured areas around Piochar, Kharkai, Kharkarai and Biha. Intense engagement and heavy exchange of fire also took place between security forces and terrorists in Biha Valley South of Chuprial. Around six terrorists were killed and 10 others were apprehended from Biha in the operation. The security forces also recovered 20 small machineguns, one rifle G-3, two rocket launchers and 7 rockets, 12 bore ore rifles, two grenades and 6000 rounds of SMG and 2 MM rifles from there.
The security forces also secured areas around Barko Sar, Roringar, Nalkot, Wainai towards Biha, Bartana and Pushtunat, while efforts were underway to clear Tirang, Thana, Allahdand and Batkhela, ISPR added.
In South Waziristan Agency, terrorists blocked the road between Tanai and Sarwaki. The security forces have launched an operation to open the road, ISPR said.
Reuters adds: The military used aircraft and artillery as they stepped up an assault aimed at eliminating Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, holed up in the South Waziristan region near the Afghan border.
A full-scale offensive has not yet begun in South Waziristan but fighter jets have been attacking Mehsuds positions in recent days, and did so again on Sunday.
Its very scary. Jets have carried out heavy bombing. I saw billows of smoke and dust coming from houses that were hit, Jahangir Barki, a resident of Wana, South Waziristans main town, told Reuters.
Security forces also fired artillery at an office of a top militant commander allied with Mehsud, Maulvi Nazir, residents said. The commander was not there at the time, they said.
The military has said it is trying to clear militants from a stretch of the main road linking Wana with NWFP.
The top government official in Swat said electricity and gas had been restored in many areas and residents who had fled from the fighting could soon come home.
Hopefully, well be receiving our people from June 25 as things are in place in some areas. Other areas will get power and gas as soon as theyre cleared by security forces, Khushal Khan, the top government official in the valley, told Reuters.
A government official in the Bajaur region, another militant enclave on the Afghan border, said three militant hideouts had been destroyed in bombing by aircraft there. The official, Saad Ghulam, said authorities did not have information about casualties.
AFP adds: At least seven Taliban militants were killed Sunday in a gunfight with local vigilantes in Upper Dir, police said.
A group of rebels fleeing towards northwestern Chitral district was intercepted by local vigilantes in the village of Patrak in Upper Dir district after which intense gunfight broke out, police chief Ejaz Ahmed told AFP.
Seven militants were killed in the fighting, he said, adding that police had blocked possible escape routes out of the area to try and catch the fleeing insurgents.
Officials have said up to 1,000 Upper Dir villagers earlier this month formed a vigilante mob and stormed three villages where suspected Taliban were hiding out.
They killed six of them to avenge the bombing of a mosque in the village of Hayagai Sharqai in which 38 people died on June 5.
Monitoring Desk adds: Military jets and artillery pounded suspected militant hideouts in two towns in northwest on Sunday, killing 27 fighters, officials told an American news agency.
The military has stepped up strikes in the past week on suspected militant bases in Bajaur, where violence has spiked again almost five months after the military declared victory after a months-long operation.
Two local government officials, Iqbal Khan and Nawaz Khan, said bombs dropped from planes on targets in Salarzai town killed 13 militants. In nearby Charmang, shelling killed 14 militants, the officials said. The military has attacked targets in Charmang several times in the past week.