Officials said that a contingent of troops moved into the Loisam area, around 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Khar, the main town in Bajaur, late Wednesday to control militant movements between several districts. An officer from the paramilitary Frontier Corps said 300-400 militants, backed by local sympathisers, participated in the attack. They were mostly armed with AK-47 assault rifles, rocket launchers and grenades, he said.
“The firing continued the whole night, this morning reinforcements were sent. One vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device on its way to the post and the convoy was then attacked by Taliban militants,” the official said. One soldier was killed in the bomb blast and the rest were killed in the fighting, they said. The Frontier Corps official would only confirm the deaths of five soldiers but said that many were critically wounded and had been taken to hospital outside his area. A Taliban spokesman, Maulvi Omar, said militants killed 18 soldiers while only two Taliban fighters died and claimed that fighters from the hardline movement had surrounded the post. “The fighting will continue until the troops are withdrawn from Loisam. We will respond with full might,” Omar said in a telephone call to local reporters.
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9:27 PM
Moderate Islamist here
