US troops carry out search operation in NWA

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

By Mushtaq Yusufzai

PESHAWAR: Two US choppers, carrying American troops, reportedly intruded into the Pakistani tribal territory and landed at the Bange Dar village of North Waziristan Agency (NWA), bordering the Khost province in Afghanistan, and abducted three nomads on Monday night.Separately, suspected militants killed four more alleged US spies in the Taliban-controlled North Waziristan tribal region on the night between Monday and Tuesday.

Tribal sources told The News that two US choppers landed at the Bange Dar village. The soldiers carried out a brief search operation in the village and detained three nomads and took them along to the neighbouring country.The sources informed this correspondent from Miramshah, headquarters of NWA, by telephone that the US choppers landed at the border near Ghulam Khan area and searched the small village for suspected Taliban militants.Quoting residents of Bange Dar village, the sources said after failing to find out any militants in the village, the US troops later held three ‘innocent’ men on suspicion of having links with Taliban militants involved in attacks on the US and Nato forces across the border.However, senior government officials as well as security authorities based in Miramshah denied violation of Pakistan’s airspace by the coalition forces.
“We have our troops deployed along the border with Afghanistan but none of them reported any such violation by the foreign forces,” a military officer told this scribe but wished not to be named.The government officials said the incident might have happened across the border in Afghanistan as the Afghan nomads had set up small-tented villages inside Afghan territory.

When reached by telephone, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), denied reports about violation of Pakistan’s airspace by the US choppers.“No, I don’t have any kind of such report. I am in touch with senior military officials but none of them talked about this issue, which I am sure would not have taken place,” explained Maj-Gen Abbas.Meanwhile, suspected militants in North Waziristan killed four more alleged US spies and threw their bodies on main roads in various parts of the restive tribal region. Two of the alleged US spies were said to be Afghan nationals and the other two were identified as local tribesmen. The tribal sources said bullet-riddled bodies of the two Afghans were found on road in Sarobi village near Spalga.

Body of one tribesman was recovered from Miramshah Bazaar and other’s body was found from the Razmak Road. The suspected militants left hand-written letters Pashto language in which four of the slain men were accused of spying on ‘Mujahideen’ in North Waziristan for the US forces in Afghanistan.