14 troops dead as Taliban hit back

PESHAWAR (AFP/Reuters) - Fourteen troops and 18 Taliban militants have died in clashes and air bombardments in the tribal belt as violence spikes in the northwest region, officials said Sunday, as army prepared an assault on the Taliban chief.
Security forces, wrapping up a two-month campaign against militants in and around northwest Swat Valley, are opening up a second front against Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in the lawless Afghan border region.
The military, near the end of an offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley after two months of fighting, is set to launch a new drive in South Waziristan, where Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is based.
Militants firing rocket-propelled grenades ambushed the military convoy in North Waziristan, another militant stronghold on the Afghan border, hitting several vehicles, intelligence agency officials said.
At least 12 soldiers were killed when their convoy came under attack Sunday in Gharlamai area near Wachabibi village, about 45km west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, the military said.
Twelve soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and 10 others were seriously injured when a military convoy was attacked... in Gharlamai area, it said in a statement.
Ten terrorists were also killed in the exchange of fire with the security forces, it said, adding an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists continued for some time.
A security official in the area said there were between 100 and 150 militants involved in the ambush. Military helicopters were sent to the area to tackle the attackers and bring back the dead and injured troops, he added.
Meanwhile, warplanes bombed Taliban on Sunday in their bastion of South Waziristan after the militants attacked two military camps, killing two soldiers, officials and residents said.
Fighter jets bombarded militant hideouts in Samm village of Laddah town in South Waziristan on Sunday, killing eight rebels, a security official said.
Sundays airstrikes were on two villages in Laddah district, a Mehsud stronghold, and two militant compounds were destroyed, said a government official and residents.
It was a heavy bombing. Two militant compounds and several houses have been completely destroyed, said the government official, in South Waziristans main town of Wana.
The official declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media about military operations.
The airstrikes came after militants attacked an army and a paramilitary camp, both east of Wana, on Saturday night, killing two soldiers and wounding four, said the official.
South Waziristan resident Ahmadullah Mehsud said the home of a Taliban commander came under attack on Sunday but he did not know whether the commander was there at the time.
Rockets fired by militants from unknown locations hit a camp of paramilitary Frontier Corps Saturday night in South Waziristan tribal region, wounding four soldiers, a security official in the area told AFP.
One of the four later died, the security official said, and the Army confirmed the death in its daily update on the northwest, saying 'one non-commissioned officer embraced shahadat (martyrdom) at Tanai Fort.
Security forces retaliated and shelled militant hideouts in Shin Warsak, Ghawakhwa and Azam Warsak villages in the rugged mountainous region, the security official said.
Fighter jets also bombarded rebel hideouts in the Taperghai and Kotkai areas of South Waziristan on Sunday morning, another security official said.
Online adds: At least two security personnel were killed while three others suffered serious injuries in an attack on FC camp in South Waziristan on Sunday.
The mortars fired by militants from some unknown location struck Frontier Constabularys Fort Tanai and Army Colony areas in Wana, killing two FC personnel and injuring three others.
Operation Rah-e-Nijat against the militants in South Waziristan has entered the third week now, while the heavy guns and jet fighters of the security forces continued pounding the militants hideouts overnight.
The security forces backed by gunship helicopters and jets fighters pounded militants hideouts in Sam, Langarkhel and other areas of Mehsud tribes. As a result, at least eight militants were killed. Two hideouts of militants were also demolished in the attack.
On the other hand, at least 11 miscreants were killed and several others received serious injuries during clashes with security forces in Ladha area of South Wazirstan.