11 dead in drone strikes against Taliban hideouts in Pakistan's KP province

Eleven people were killed in drone strikes in northern Pakistan on Saturday launched by the army against the Taliban, who had killed seven soldiers a day earlier, police told AFP.

Three drone strikes were carried out on Friday night in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity, targeting “Pakistani Taliban hideouts” in the region bordering Afghanistan where violence has erupted in recent months.

“It was only this morning that we learned that two women and three children were among the victims,” he said.

“In protest, local residents placed the bodies of the victims on the road,” saying that they were “innocent civilians” killed in the strikes, he added.

Another police source said that “an investigation is under way to establish whether Taliban fighters were indeed present at the sites at the time of the attack.”

“It is too early to say whether the places affected were civilian areas or whether they were sheltering Taliban,” he added.

At least eight soldiers and a civilian were killed in western Pakistan in separate attacks along the border with Afghanistan, where violence has erupted in recent months, police told AFP. Seven soldiers were killed in a security operation against “armed Taliban” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a police source said on Saturday.

“Fighters hiding in a house fired on security forces,” the source said.

The army deployed combat helicopters during the hours-long fight, killing eight Taliban fighters, while six other soldiers were wounded, the source said. A blast from a bomb planted by separatists on a motorbike also killed a soldier and a civilian further south in Balochistan, police officer Mohsin Ali told AFP.

At least six people were injured in a suicide blast near a rally of Balochistan National Party (BNP) on Saturday in the Mastung district of Balochistan, according to police officials. However, the party has alleged that it was a “failed attempt” to suppress their protest against the Pakistani government.

Meanwhile, over 250 activists of the BNP were also arrested during the same rally that was leading the peaceful long march to Quetta against the illegal detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee leaders and activists.

The protestors were held near Mastung in the Balochistan province, local media reported on Saturday.

Later during the day, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has announced a ceasefire during Eid-ul-Fitr, stating that it would halt all of its activities during Eid. The announcement comes amid heavy losses incurred by the banned outfit during an Intelligence-Based Operation (IBO) in Mardan district of KP province.

TTP announced similar ceasefires during religious festivities in the past as well.

Muhammad Khorasani, the spokesperson of the TTP, aka Pakistani Taliban, issued a single-liner statement, announcing a ceasefire during Eid Al Fitr.

“Announcement of ceasefire during Eid Al Fitr,” read a statement issued by the TTP spokesperson.

The Pakistani Taliban announced in mid-March a “spring campaign” against security forces, threatening “ambushes, targeted attacks, suicide attacks and strikes.” The TTP has since claimed responsibility for around 100 attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In the same province, “armed Taliban” fighters hiding in a house shot and killed seven soldiers who were carrying out an operation against them, a police source said on Saturday.

During the shoot-out, which lasted several hours, the army deployed helicopter gunships, killing eight Taliban, while six other soldiers were wounded, according to the source.

Since January 1, more than 190 people, mostly members of the security forces, have been killed in violence carried out by armed groups fighting against the government both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in Balochistan provinces, according to an AFP count.

“Pakistan expects the Afghan government to assume its responsibilities”, the army said at the beginning of March, reserving “the right to take the necessary measures to respond to these threats coming from across the border.”

Agencies