http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\05\30\story_30-5-2009_pg1_1

Army clears Peochar Valley

* Troops kill 28 Taliban including 7 commanders, arrest seven 
* Forces defuse five improvised explosive devices in Buner 

Staff Report 

RAWALPINDI: Troops have taken control of Bahrain and cleared Peochar village in 
Swat, the ISPR said on Friday as security forces killed 28 Taliban - including 
infamous commander Khush Mir Khan alias Abu Huzaifa - all over the valley. 

"The security forces have successfully secured Bahrain," said the ISPR in a 
statement, adding that the army had also arrested seven Taliban from various 
areas of Swat. The ISPR said five soldiers and two civilians were also injured 
in exchange of fire. 

Some of the heaviest recent fighting took place in Bahrain. 

Peochar village: In a cordon-and-search operation, the forces cleared Taliban 
stronghold of Peochar village. "The army destroyed Taliban hideouts, including 
a madrassa, and seized 12 UN-registered vehicles," said the ISPR, adding that 
four tunnels storing rations stolen from NGOs were also discovered and a 'huge 
cache of arms' confiscated. 

Meanwhile in Mingora, troops continued their cordon-and-search operation, 
cleared Aman Kot and Technical Institute College on Mingora-Kokarai Road and 
arrested five Taliban. 

During a search operation in Dir's Kalpani area, the army killed six Taliban 
commanders - Qadir, Noor Hameed, Aftab, Yousaf, Iftikhar and Iftikhar. 

IEDs: The forces defused five improvised explosive devices during a search 
operation around Daggar in Buner. The army killed 13 Taliban hiding in a 
compound in a gunbattle. 

The army said it was continuing relief activities, and had despatched 50 tonnes 
of ration for 70,000 stranded people in Khawazakhela. Five trucks of rations 
were also sent to the people of Bahrain and eight to a group of people in 
Kalam. 

Around 2.4 million people have fled fighting as soldiers struggle to wrest back 
western Swat and two nearby districts from the Taliban, who last month advanced 
to within 100 kilometres of the capital, Islamabad. 

The military says more than 1,200 Taliban and 80 soldiers have died in the 
onslaught launched in the districts of Lower Dir on April 26, Buner on April 28 
and Swat on May 8, but those tolls cannot be confirmed independently.

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