As air strikes on militant positions continued in the restive Bajaur Agency killing 19 suspected militants, fresh contingents of the Pakistan Army on Wednesday reached the troubled region to launch a ground offensive.
Authorities said 19 militants were killed and 15 others injured in the daylong air strikes by warplanes, Cobra and gunship helicopters and artillery shelling on Taliban hideouts in Mamond and Charmang Tehsils.
Major Murad Khan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman based in Rawalpindi and responsible for briefing media persons about the ongoing military operations in Bajaur and Swat, said the ground troops had taken control of areas close to Khazana and were moving towards militant strongholds, including Tang Khatta, Loisam and Tangi areas.
He confirmed that 19 militants were killed and 15 others injured in the bombing and artillery shelling.
Military sources said fresh Pakistan Army contingents
were called to Bajaur for launching a ground operation against the Taliban militants in Charmang and Mamond areas — the militant strongholds where the security forces are yet to launch their drive to oust the Taliban fighters.
Tribal sources told The News that two fighter jets heavily pounded militants’ strongholds throughout the day in Mamond and Charmang subdivisions and their suspected hideouts in Tang Khatta, Khazana and Loisam in Khar subdivision.
Capturing the strategically-important Loisam area, about 15 kilometres west of Khar, is still a challenge for the security forces although the military has been using heavy weapons against the militants in the area since August 6.
Majority of the tribesmen of Bajaur, especially those living in the militant-controlled areas, have already left their homes for safer places in Dir, Mardan, Charsadda, Peshawar and Nowshera districts.
Those staying behind for looking after their households, cattleheads and maize crop complained that continuous artillery shelling had made their lives miserable.
"Nobody in our village could sleep for the past 72 hours due to continuous artillery shelling," said Bahauddin, a resident of Bhai Cheena village near Khar.
Moreover, the residents complained of food shortage in the region due to the curfew continuing for the last 14 days.
The residents of populous villages like Siddiqabad, Tauheedabad, Lashora, Bilalabad, Shanday Mor, Kotki and Khairabad have demanded of the government to give them relaxation in curfew duration and allow food supplies to their villages, so that people could buy daily-use items during the ongoing holy month of Ramazan.
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