As many as 60 militants and extremists, including some foreigners, have been killed in the ongoing military operation in Buner on Friday, while two security men were martyred and eight injured, said Major General Ather Abbas, Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) here on Friday.
The militants also used explosives-laden vehicles against security forces and bombed two police stations at Bagra, he said during the daily briefing. According to the figures from different military sources, about 200 militants and extremists have been killed in Operation "Black Thunder" in Buner and Lower Dir districts of NWFP, being conducted by Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary, supported by tanks, fighter jets and helicopter gunships.
"Security forces have taken control of the Ambella heights after an intense fight, and militants had been kicked out of the strategically important area", Abbas said, adding that some foreign militants had also been killed in Bagra, southern part of Buner. However, the ISPR chief declined to give any details and identity of foreign militants killed during the operation.
He said that resistance continued in some areas of Buner, but security forces were moving forward. "Security forces are trying to clear the communication links of Ambella and Daggar, the district headquarters of Buner," he added. The extremists have mounted latest weapons on their vehicles and have been using them against the security forces.
General Athar said that the operation in Lower Dir areas was launched at the request of the people who live there. "The locals had rejected the rule of the miscreants, and had called the security forces to get the area vacated from the militants," he added.
He lambasted the militants of Swat for not following the peace agreement they had signed with NWFP government, and said that security forces patrols would continue. It is learnt that more than 50 armed Taliban stormed into local paramilitary headquarters in Upper Dir, a district which is away from military operation. They kidnapped 10 security forces personnel but were released unharmed later in the day.