Updated on
Summary
Pak army has seized control of a key Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold in a region --Bajaur -- bordering Afghanistan after killing 75 local and foreign militants, a top general said on Tuesday. The first Pakistan army uniformed soldiers have arrived in Damadola after a recent operation and the Pakistan flag has been raised (there) for the first time since (independence in) 1947, Major General Tariq Khan told journalists. Damadola, in the district of Bajaur near the Afghan border, was the scene of the 2006 US drone strike that targeted Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who managed to escape. Khan accompanied a group of journalists, taken to Bajaur by the military, to a complex of caves which he said served as a militant headquarters. Troops overran the complex in an operation launched in January, he said. There were Egyptians, Uzbeks, Chechens and Afghans killed in the operation, he said. To a question, Khan said the house of former MNA Haroon Rashid had become the hub of militants. It was destroyed under the FCR law. While Rashids brother was arrested in connection with supporting militants, Khan said. The FC IG said that Khan of Kunar is supporting militants in Afghan province of Kunar.
