PESHAWAR: At least 15 militants, including a suicide bomber, were killed while four security personnel sustained injuries during an overnight gunbattle with security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s South Waziristan district, officials said on Friday.
The clash erupted on Thursday at Karamzi Stop in the Azam Warsak area near the Afghan border. Acting on prior intelligence, security forces launched an operation to clear the area, seizing a key militant compound (Markaz) and hoisting the national flag on the site, sources said.
Several of the slain militants had reportedly taken refuge inside a nearby mosque. In total, nine people, including four security personnel, were injured during the firefight, the sources added. Two new check-posts were also established in the area.
In a separate incident in Bannu district, armed assailants shot dead a retired army Subedar, Ataullah, following an attempted abduction in the Norar area of Malagan. Three worshippers caught in the crossfire were injured and shifted to hospital, officials confirmed.
