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Pakistan begins ground offensive in key town
(MENAFN- Arab News) ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Three Pakistani soldiers were killed Tuesday in a gunfight with militants during an army offensive against insurgent hide-outs in a northwestern tribal area the military said.
The army says it has launched a ground offensive against a second key stronghold of local and foreign militants near the Afghan border.
The army spokesman Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said Tuesday that troops had moved into the town of Mir Ali the day before triggering a gunbattle in which three soldiers and seven militants were killed.
Mir Ali is near Miran Shah the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region where the military last month launched a long-awaited operation against the Pakistani Taleban who have carried out numerous attacks in the country.
Bajwa said the military has cleared Miran Shah of militants and that 447 militants and 26 soldiers have been killed there since the start of the June 15 operation. The clash happened near the town of Mirali in North Waziristan where the army is in the midst of a major operation to clear the area of militants and their strongholds.
'Three soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and six others were injured in exchange of fire with terrorists while clearing area Fateh Khel near town of Mirali" the military said in a statement. It said seven 'terrorists" were also killed.
The area is off-limits to journalists so the number and identity of those killed cannot be verified independently.
A security official told AFP that the army had begun ground operations in the Mirali and Dattakhel areas on Monday.
The military launched the long-awaited offensive last month to try to wipe out longstanding militant strongholds in North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.
Jets and artillery began hitting rebel targets on June 15 to try to regain full control of the district after years of pressure from Washington and other powers.
The assault was launched after a dramatic attack on Karachi airport which killed dozens of people and marked the end of a faltering peace process with the Pakistani Taleban.
More than 400 militants and 23 soldiers have been killed in the assault so far according to the military.
The army says it has launched a ground offensive against a second key stronghold of local and foreign militants near the Afghan border.
The army spokesman Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said Tuesday that troops had moved into the town of Mir Ali the day before triggering a gunbattle in which three soldiers and seven militants were killed.
Mir Ali is near Miran Shah the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region where the military last month launched a long-awaited operation against the Pakistani Taleban who have carried out numerous attacks in the country.
Bajwa said the military has cleared Miran Shah of militants and that 447 militants and 26 soldiers have been killed there since the start of the June 15 operation. The clash happened near the town of Mirali in North Waziristan where the army is in the midst of a major operation to clear the area of militants and their strongholds.
'Three soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and six others were injured in exchange of fire with terrorists while clearing area Fateh Khel near town of Mirali" the military said in a statement. It said seven 'terrorists" were also killed.
The area is off-limits to journalists so the number and identity of those killed cannot be verified independently.
A security official told AFP that the army had begun ground operations in the Mirali and Dattakhel areas on Monday.
The military launched the long-awaited offensive last month to try to wipe out longstanding militant strongholds in North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.
Jets and artillery began hitting rebel targets on June 15 to try to regain full control of the district after years of pressure from Washington and other powers.
The assault was launched after a dramatic attack on Karachi airport which killed dozens of people and marked the end of a faltering peace process with the Pakistani Taleban.
More than 400 militants and 23 soldiers have been killed in the assault so far according to the military.
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