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6 troops, 40 militants killed in Pakistan attack
By RIAZ KHAN,Associated Press Writer AP - Monday, January 12
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Hundreds of militants, many from Afghanistan, attacked a Pakistani paramilitary camp in a lawless northwestern tribal region early Sunday, sparking a major clash that left six security troops and 40 insurgents dead.
The brazen raid in Mohmand suggested sophisticated cross-border coordination among Taliban militants nesting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and underscored the continued strength of the militancy despite an ongoing Pakistani military offensive.
Insurgents attacked the Pakistani Frontier Corps' camp at about 2 a.m. (2100 GMT Saturday) with mortars and rockets, then used small arms to fire on a checkpoint near the Mohammad Ghat camp, said a paramilitary official, who gave details on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to comment to the media.
The 600 or so attackers were eventually driven off, but scattered skirmishes continued, he said.
The official said the bulk of the militants crossed over from Afghanistan and later joined with Pakistani allies. He said it was unclear when the Afghan-based militants came over. He described them as foreigners, which could also include Arabs, Uzbeks and other insurgents.
At least 40 militants were killed and scores were wounded, while six security forces died and seven were hurt, according to the official and a Frontier Corps statement.
Segments of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal belt are considered strongholds of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, many of whom are believed to be involved in attacks on American and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Militants frequently crisscross the porous border.
Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 troops in its northwest to battle the militant threat, and in summer 2008, it rolled out a major offensive in the Bajur tribal region that has spread south into Mohmand as well.
Pakistan says it has killed more than 1,700 insurgents in the offensive, which the U.S. has praised for helping reduce violence on the Afghan side. The U.S. remains deeply concerned about militants finding safe havens in Pakistan, and it has stepped up a campaign of its own missile strikes on militant targets primarily in the tribal belt.
Access to the remote, dangerous mountain region is severely restricted, making it near impossible to independently verify the account of Sunday's attack.
Talat Masood, a leading Pakistani military and political analyst, said the attack showed "the militants are still fairly powerful in some areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan," even though foreign troops are taking on militants in Afghanistan while Pakistan pressures them on its side of the rugged border.
"There are several parts which are not under control, and others that are," Masood said. "The border is so porous. It's so fluid."
Militants also often target tribesmen who do not support their aims.
On Sunday, purported Taliban fighters abducted five members of an anti-militant tribal committee in Bajur and sliced an ear off each, said local government official Israr Khan.
One victim told police at a hospital that the abductors warned them they would slash off their other ears along with their tongues if they maintained their anti-militant activities, Khan said.
Saleem Khan, a relative of one of the victims, told The Associated Press that the men had been merely standing guard.
"They did not commit any crime, but the way they were 'punished' is horrible and inhuman. This is very disturbing," Saleem Khan said.
Suspected militants meanwhile abducted a government official in South Waziristan tribal region on Sunday, according to two intelligence officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
Gunmen in four vehicles stopped a convoy in which Amir Latif, a political deputy in the regional government, had been traveling, the officials said. The suspected militants bundled Latif in one of their vehicles and drove off.
Also Sunday, tribesmen were blocking the southwestern supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan at Chaman with burning tires and felled trees.
They were protesting the killing of one of their members in a raid by Pakistan's anti-narcotics force.
Police official Karam Khan said trucks were held up well ahead of the blocked points and no damage or injuries had been reported.
Most NATO supplies travel through the famed Khyber Pass, although a smaller number get to Afghanistan by a second land crossing at Chaman.
___
Associated Press Writers Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman and Nahal Toosi in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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