Pak Army dismantles `deserted` terrorist camp
IRNA
Islamabad, Oct 5, IRNA -- Pakistan Army and paramilitary forces Saturday dismantled a `deserted` training facility in the Northern Areas used for `sectarian violence` in parts of the country, local press reported Sunday. Troops launched the operation in Tangir sub-division of Diamir district early Saturday morning to search the training camp. The operation was conducted mainly by ground troops but reports said army helicopters were also used. "It was a search and dismantle operation," Army Spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan was quoted as saying, "The action follows intelligence reports that there was a terrorist training camp in the area." But he added the camp was deserted by the time the troops arrived. "There was nobody there," the general said. Talking to the official APP news agency, he said the militants apparently left the area soon after the Army operation at Angoor Adda in South Waziristan Agency on Thursday. The Army spokesman reportedly declined to name the group operating the camp. According to the Pakistani daily Dawn, the camp was used by Harktul Mujahideen, a militant outfit fighting in Kashmir and it was a small facility that had been abandoned about a month or so ago. Comprising three residential blocks, the camp once housed 20 to 25 trainees, the daily reported. The spokesman said the camp was a terrorist facility that was involved in local terrorism, including sectarian killings and blockade of the Karakoram Highway from time to time. "The camp has no connection with Al Qaeda but the possibility of it receiving patronage from outside cannot be ruled out." He said the troops destroyed the administrative infrastructure and other `logistics.` "There were no arms or ammunition there," he told Dawn. TSH/211 End
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