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Pakistani forces arrest 10 suspected militants
Pakistani forces supported by helicopters arrested at least 10 suspected militants on Monday in raids in tribal areas near the Afghan border, intelligence and army officials said, the Associated Press reported. The arrests were made in the lawless region of North Waziristan: two from a home in the main town of Miran Shah, and eight others, including a foreigner, in the nearby village of Dandi Darpakhel where soldiers seized rockets, artillery and other ammunition from houses, said a senior army official. The foreigner appeared to be an Afghan, said the official, who is based in the northwestern city of Peshawar. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to media about the operation. Residents in Miran Shah said troops had blocked off a road leading to Dandi Darpakhel and surrounded a house, believed to be owned by relatives of a senior Taliban commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani. An intelligence official, who also requested anonymity because of the clandestine nature of his job in Pakistan's tribal regions, said tribal elders and clerics persuaded five local tribesmen inside the house to surrender. He appeared to be referring to the same arrests in the village as the army official. Another two men were arrested separately in the village. Neither official identified the arrested men, and it was unclear if they had links with the Taliban commander. One army soldier was seriously injured after a radio antenna on his vehicle hit an overhead power line as he traveled to the village, the intelligence official said. Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, says al-Qaida-linked militants have been hiding in the North and South Waziristan tribal regions that border Afghanistan. Pakistan has recently stepped up its troop presence at the border as it has come under pressure from U.S. and Afghan officials to prevent infiltration of militants launching attacks to sabotage September 18 elections in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, security forces found the bodies of three men whose throats had been slit in a village east of Miran Shah with a note warning that anyone spying for the United States would face a similar fate, another intelligence official said. None of the victims was identified. Islamic militants have been blamed for killing people accused of spying on them in the region. Associated Press writer Sailab Mahsud contributed to this report from Ladha in South Waziristan.
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