Official: 36 Militants Killed in Pakistan

By BASHIRULLAH KHAN

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan – Pakistani security forces struck a militant training camp Wednesday in a tribal region near the Afghan border, killing three dozen fighters, including a Chechen commander linked to al-Qaida, an army official said.

The Chechen – identified only by his code name, Imam – died when a helicopter fired on his vehicle during the raid in the North Waziristan region, the army official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said about three dozen militants linked with al-Qaida also died in the assault.

The militants were attacked after conducting a raid inside Afghanistan and re-entering the Pakistani tribal region, where their camp was located.

A Pakistani helicopter also hit a bus with gunfire during the raid, killing a female passenger, said the injured driver, Sabbir Khan.

Heavily armed militants later retaliated by taking eight paramilitary troops prisoner in the nearby town of Miran Shah, witnesses said. After capturing the troops, the militants announced over loudspeakers that all shops in the town should be closed, said Zarmat Khan, owner of a shop selling cloth.

Pakistan – a key U.S. ally in the war against terror – has deployed thousands of troops to North Waziristan to carry out operations against hundreds of Arab, Afghan and Central Asian militants, some allegedly linked with the al-Qaida terror network.

Wednesday’s raid comes days ahead of President Bush’s visit to Pakistan, during which Bush and Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf will discuss the fight against al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents. Pakistan has denied in the past that arrests of militants are timed to coincide with events in the United States.

The militants’ mountaintop hideout was spotted about a week ago and put under surveillance, said an intelligence official on condition of anonymity because of the secretive nature of his job. He said Afghan and Uzbek militants and their local supporters were detected at the site.

More than two dozen militants were at the camp at the time of the attack, he said. The early morning operation took place near Saidgi, a village about nine miles west of Miran Shah, said Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. Last month, Pakistan protested to the U.S. military in Afghanistan over firing that hit the same village, killing eight people.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, a pro-government politician was killed when gunmen opened fire on his car in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, officials said. The politician, Nasrullah Khan Kakar, headed the Pakistan Workers’ Party, a small group that supports Musharraf.

Kakar was a strong opponent of militants who are blamed for attacks in the province in a campaign to secure more royalties for resources extracted from their areas.