Re: Local Lashkar cordon off 300 extremists in Dirbala
DAWN.COM | Provinces | Military sends gunships to support Upper Dir tribesmen
Military sends gunships to support Upper Dir tribesmen
Tuesday, 09 Jun, 2009 | 02:10 PM PST |
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Hundreds of tribesmen in the district took up arms on Saturday and stormed villages where militants are holed up. — AFP
[NWFP
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PESHAWAR: The military sent helicopter gunships to a northwest region Tuesday to support armed villagers who have risen up against Taliban to avenge a deadly mosque blast, an official said.
Hundreds of tribesmen in Upper Dir district took up arms Saturday, a day after 38 people were killed in a mosque suicide bombing there, and have stormed villages where extremists are holed up killing 14 fighters, the army has said.
The militia — known locally as a lashkar — were on Tuesday surrounding Shatkas and Ghazigai villages, where militants are believed to be hiding.
Upper Dir borders Swat valley, the centre of a fierce six-week military offensive aimed at crushing a Taliban insurgency.
‘Lashkar men are positioned on surrounding mountains and keeping a vigil on the movement of Taliban militants,’ said a military official who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He said army helicopter gunships and artillery pounded suspected militant hideouts in Upper Dir, adding: ‘The shelling was in support of the lashkar.’
Pakistan’s government has in the past encouraged the formation of lashkar militias to help the official armed forces in their fight against militants, and say they want to build up and arm such community forces in the northwest.
Up to 1,200 villagers carrying firearms are reported to have taken on about 200 Taliban in a handful of remote Upper Dir hamlets.
Friday’s mosque bombing was the latest in a series of attacks on civilian and security targets — attacks widely seen as retribution by militants for a blistering offensive by the Pakistan army.