International NEWS
Civilians Flee Heavy Fire in S. Waziristan
October 19, 2009 Visionmp.com news service
In overnight action Pakistani security forces backed by heavy artillery are reported to have pounded militant strongholds in South Waziristan on Monday, triggering a further exodus of civilians caught in the cross-fire between the radicals and the government forces.
With the battles triggering concerns across the subcontinent Indian Defense Minister AK Antony on Monday termed the situation in Pakistan as ‘very serious’.
Antony while expressing concerns over the spread of terrorism said India is prepared to overcome any challenge to the country’s territorial integrity and security.
Pakistani action against the militants follows a series of humiliating terror attacks in several parts of the country, including an assault on its army headquarters on Thursday.
Residents in Wana – the main town in the restive South Waziristan region along the Pak-Afghan bo0rder – say heavy artillery fire was heard throughout the night.
Foreign reporters are not allowed in the region where some 28,000 soldiers are locked in battle with 10,000 radical fighters, including at least a thousand Uzbek and Arab militants linked to the al-Qaeda, say media reports.
According to an army brief on Sunday 60 militants and five soldiers had been killed in the first 24 hours of the offensive.
At least 12,700 families in northwest Pakistan’s South Waziristan have been dislocated so far because of the ground assault against Taliban militants, said a local official on Monday.
“Up till now 12,700 affected families of 94,000 persons from South Waziristan have been registered in five registration centers set up in DI Khan (Dera Ismail Khan) and Tank districts for them,” Provincial Relief Commissioner Shakeel Qadar Khan was quoted as saying in the northwestern provincial capital Peshawar.
He said that a large number of people from South Waziristan tribal agency are moving towards Tank and DI Khan to stay with their relatives or in safe places.
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