It was a bloody day in Af-Pak region with Taliban insurgents killing soldiers in Afghanistan, Pakistani army pounding militants as important talks were being called off across the border, and a blast killing a score of civilians in Pakistan.
Hundreds of heavily armed Taliban insurgents killed 21 soldiers and captured seven others in a pre-dawn attack at army checkpoints in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, officials said, making it the deadliest single incident for the Afghan army in at least a year.
The Talibans have escalated attacks in recent months as it tries to take advantage of the withdrawal of foreign troops at the end of 2014.
Afghanistan's Taliban also said it has suspended mediation with the US to exchange a captive US soldier for five senior Taliban prisoners held in US custody in Guantanamo Bay.
Across the border, Pakistani military carried out fresh air strikes early morning in Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency in the country's northwest tribal areas on the Afghan border, killing at least 20 terrorists and injuring many others, as peace talks with the Taliban remained suspended.
An improvised explosive devices making factory and huge quantities of explosives were destroyed in strikes, a military source said. The attacks came a day after the air strikes in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which nine terrorists were killed.
The decade-long insurgency has claimed around 40,000 lives
The military has gone on an offensive and has carried out air strikes in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency killing over 40 suspected terrorist in the last one week. The air strikes were carried out following a joint decision taken by the military and civilian leadership.
The government has been trying to engage the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and others in peace talks to end the decade-long insurgency that has claimed about 40,000 lives.
Government negotiators have set a ceasefire as a precondition for another round of talks but spokesperson for the TTP Shahidullah Shahid has blamed Islamabad for the deadlock and asked the state to declare a ceasefire first.
Hours after the military air strikes, at least 12 people, including a child, were killed and 14 others injured in a bomb blast in northwest Pakistan's Kohat city. Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, Nasir Khan Durrani, said the blast appeared to have been carried out using a planted explosive device.
Durrani said that according to initial reports, five kilograms of explosives were used in the blast which were planted in a wooden crate placed on the roadside.
Source: Latest News in Hindi
No comments:
Post a Comment