Thread: 150 foreign terrorists killed since March: ISPR chief

http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/se...ain/main10.htm

150 foreign terrorists killed since March: ISPR chief

Says most of S Waziristan area cleared of miscreants

KARACHI: Most of South Waziristan area had been cleared of terrorists and so far 100-150 of them, mostly foreigners, had been killed and as many arrested during the ongoing anti-terrorist operation.

This was stated by Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, while responding to questions at the Meet the Press Programme of the Karachi Press Club here on Monday. "South Waziristan is almost cleared of the terrorist elements, while the operation is continuing in the North Waziristan Agency," he said.

Giving details about the operation, he said, some 68 miscreants were killed, majority of them being foreign terrorists while the Pakistan Army lost three soldiers during the period. On September 9, he said, some 50 miscreants, majority of them foreign terrorists, were killed during a precise target attack by the Pakistan Army, while in another incident of crossfire in the nearby locality 10 miscreants were killed. He said bodies of six out of 10 killed in the cross-firing incident were recovered. Of the six killed, five were foreigners and one local, while five miscreants, all locals, were captured.

He said on September 11 and 12, in an unprovoked fire by miscreants three soldiers of Pakistan Army lost their lives and a few others sustained wounds. In another incident of cross firing between terrorists and security forces six to eight terrorists were killed.

Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, while reiterating the country’s pledge to continue its role in global war on terror said, the efforts would continue to purge terrorism from the country. He said miscreants had been using the local people as human shield and "our forces had to use maximum restraint, while opening fire on them". However, he said, the terrorists had been using the rockets of old technology and these hardly hit the target accurately which, mostly cause losses to civilian population.

Comparatively, he said, the Army had been using modern arms to target the terrorists with precision and hardly cause any loss to the civil population. He said the damage suffered in the past had been due to some misunderstanding by the paramilitary force, when 13 civilians were killed, while riding a vehicle, suspected of being one out of the three used by terrorists, near a check-post. He said the president himself apologised on this and heirs of victims were compensated comprehensively.

Replying to a question regarding the presence of any high-value target in the area, he said: "It could be anybody’s guess — nothing could be said in clear terms in this regard." When quizzed on the number of foreign terrorists present in the Fata, he said again this was not a simple mathematical calculation but "we have confirmed reports about their presence in the area".

He showed a video on the occasion, which depicted a number of cellars had been unearthed from where besides seizing sophisticated arms and ammunition, a number of modern telecommunication equipments have also been recovered. "This confirms presence of foreign terrorists in the area."