Clash kills 4 Pakistani soldiers, 9 militants

By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD – Militants ambushed troops on a dusty road in a volatile tribal region of Pakistan, triggering an intense firefight that killed at least nine attackers and four soldiers, two officials said Thursday.

The clash took place Wednesday in the stronghold of a senior Taliban commander, Waliur Rehman, in the South Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border. Troops backed by helicopter gunships targeted militant hide-outs in the region, an intelligence official and an army officer said.

The officials, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, provided no further details of the fighting, but said troops were still hunting for the attackers.

The incident came two days after two Taliban commanders acknowledged their chief, Baitullah Mehsud, died following an Aug. 5 U.S. missile strike in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Taliban members say they selected Hakimullah Mehsud as the group's new leader, while Rehman was appointed Taliban leader in South Waziristan, where most of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's fighters — believed to number as many as 25,000 — are based.

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 troops to the regions near the Afghan border since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Wednesday's ambush was the first by militants since Rehman's appointment as the insurgent leader in South Waziristan, a region that has witnessed scores of military operations.

Troops and police imposed a curfew throughout Thursday and launched an operation in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan to recover illegal weapons, said police chief Saeedullah Marwat.

The operation follows sporadic clashes over the past few months between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims in the area, Marwat said. He did not have further details, beyond saying some weapons had been handed in voluntarily.

Separately, the army said security forces in the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan seized a vehicle that was being prepared for a suicide attack and arrested nine militants.

The military still clashes sporadically with Taliban fighters in Swat, where it fought a near three-month offensive to clear insurgents from the area. Search operations in various parts of Swat led to the arrest of another 22 suspected militants, while 14 turned themselves in to security forces, the army said in a statement Thursday.