Pak: 46 Taliban fighters killed in militant infighting
Forty-six Taliban fighters, including an Uzbek commander, were killed
in fierce fighting between rival militant organisations in Pakistan's
restive Khyber tribal region.
The militants were killed in two suicide attacks which were carried
out shortly after fighters of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
occupied the headquarters of the pro-government Ansar-ul-Islam in Tirah
Valley.
An Uzbek commander named Abu Islam was among the militants
killed in the attacks, The News daily quoted tribesmen and official
sources as saying.
Some media reports said the Ansar-ul-Islam had
carried out three suicide attacks on the Taliban, though this could not
be independently confirmed as journalists are barred from reporting from
the tribal areas.
On Monday, when the Taliban fighters entered
the headquarters of the Ansar-ul-Islam at Bagh in Tirah Valley, a
suicide attacker blew himself up.
Another suicide attack was
carried when the Taliban militants moved into the ammunition depots
inside the headquarters, reports said.
Dozens of militants were injured in the two attacks.
The dead militants, including the commanders, belonged to different parts of Pakistan.
Sources in the Ansar-ul-Islam said the attacks were carried out by commander Abdul Ghafar and an operative named Kashmir Khan.
Meanwhile,
the Taliban and its ally, the Lashkar-e-Islam, have occupied Maidan
area of Tirah Valley, considered to be a stronghold of Ansar-ul-Islam.
They also took control of Shalobar and Zakhakhel areas overcoming some
resistance.
Lashkar-e-Islam fighters torched two dozen houses
belonging to commanders of the rival group and hoisted their flags in
the area.
Earlier, Malikdinkhel, Qambarkhel, Adamkhel and Bagh areas were captured by them.
Talking
to reporters from an undisclosed location, Ansar-ul-Islam deputy chief
Ezatullah said his group was intact and would fight from Zakhakhel and
Orakzai Agency to defeat the rivals.
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