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ShareIslamabad: Advancing Pakistani troops today stormed into another Taliban bastion of Ladha and were locked in pitched street battles with militant fighters for control of the town in South Waziristan where 30 terrorists were reported killed in the heavy fighting.
"Advancing troops have entered the second terrorist stronghold of Ladha. Intense fighting is taking place in the streets," an Army spokesman said. He said 10 terrorists had been killed in the fierce fighting, while 16 others died in the fighting around the town. Seven soldiers have been injured in the clashes.
Though the Taliban yesterday had claimed that they would adopt guerilla tactics against the numerically stronger Pakistani Army, the militants today engaged in street fighting to defend their hub.
Ladha is said to be one of the three main Taliban nerve centre in South Waziristan, according to the military. The security forces have already captured Sararogha and only the Makeen town remains with the militants.
Pushing deeper into the terrorist haven, the Army claimed that it has now taken complete control of Sararogha, which was a nerve centre of the slain Taliban warlord aitullah Mehsud.
"Security forces have cleared major portion of the town," the military said, however the officials said the entire town has been captured. Troops also secured strategic heights around Sararogha.
Troops moving into South Waziristan from Razmak in North Waziristan had secured the strategic village of China and were consolidating their positions around it. Four militants were killed and a soldier was injured in clashes in this area.
The soldiers found caches of arms and ammunition in several compounds and neutralised a number of IEDs in this area, the military said. So far the military has claimed more than 400 Taliban fighters in the fortnight long military campaign for the loss of 45 soldiers.
However, none of the major Taliban, Uzbek or al-Qaeda commander has been captured or killed. Army earlier has said that intelligence report indicated that the Tehrik-i-Taliban top commandeers were in Sararogha. But there was no word on them after the town fell.
Pakistan has deployed over 30,000 soldiers to take on an estimated 10,000 Taliban militants and foreign fighters in South Waziristan. The Taliban have denied reports of heavy casualties among their ranks. Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq yesterday said the militants had been vacating their strongholds as part of a war strategy and would launch a guerrilla war once the army entered deeper into South Waziristan.
Pakistani troops also continued search and clearance operations in the northwestern Swat valley, where 24 suspects were captured from different areas. Two militants also surrendered to security forces in this area. Security forces also apprehended a suspected financier of the Taliban and seized Rs815,500 from him.
