KHAR: Air force jets and helicopter gunships pounded suspected positions of militants in Salarzai and Nawagai areas of Bajaur Agency on Sunday as the armed forces expanded their operation in the region.

At least nine militants were killed and several others injured, officials said.

They said that two planes and several helicopters attacked militants’ positions in Charmang area of Nawagai tehsil. Hideouts in Babara, Cheenar, Kotki and Hashim Koi were also bombed.

According to local people, security forces were facing stiff resistance in some parts of Charmang valley. But officials said the resistance had subsided to a great extent.

The officials said troops had also attacked the command and control system of militants in the valley and they were fleeing from the area.

Suspected militant positions were also attacked in Banda Darra, Ghundai and Mulla Said areas of Salarzai tehsil. The air strikes continued for about 40 minutes and two militants were killed.

It has been reported that militants are still hiding in government installations in the plain areas of Bajaur. They are said to have built bunkers in government buildings.

Sources said at least 24 militants had been killed during the operation since Friday.

Darra attack

In Darra Adamkhel, helicopter gunships attacked militants’ hideouts in Shni Kalay area early on Sunday morning. There were no reports about casualties

The strike followed a clash between two groups of militants. The helicopters hit militants’ positions in Tor Chappar, Bostikhel and Shni Kalay areas considered to be strongholds of the Darra Adamkhel chapter of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan headed by Tariq Afridi.

A clash between the Afridi group and followers of pro-government Momin Khan took place after the latter reportedly kidnapped two supporters of the former.

The Tariq Afridi group, it may be mentioned, had claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks at the PC hotel in Peshawar on Tuesday and on a police checkpost on Friday. Earlier this year, the same group had kidnapped and later beheaded a Polish geologist.

On Saturday, a policeman and a passerby were killed and 20 people were injured when a bomb detonated by remote control hit a police bus on University Road in Kohat.

Bannu operation

In the Bannu Frontier Region, security forces continued their advance on militant hideouts in Janikhel area.

Residents said that the firing subsided on Saturday night and security forces claimed to have flushed out militants from the locality and destroyed some of their hideouts.

Militants fired three missiles on Bannu on Saturday night. One missile hit a house, but the other two landed in an unpopulated area. No casualty was reported.

AFP adds: At a briefing on Sunday, the military spokesman confirmed that 30 suspected militants were killed in strikes in South Waziristan a day earlier.