Khar, Nov 11: Around 13 Taliban fighters were killed and several injured in a Pakistani Army operation in Swat and Bajaur on Monday.

According to official sources, five of the Taliban, including a local commander, were killed in clashes in Moragai and Shalkho areas of Matta tehsil, while another two were killed in a separate clash in Swat’s Kabal tehsil.

The remaining six were killed in Bajaur’s Sewai and Damadola areas when jets bombarded Taliban hideouts. “The bombing destroyed their underground hideouts, and so far six deaths have been confirmed,” the Daily Times quoted local administration official Jamil Khan as saying.

In a related development, 12 Taliban commanders surrendered before the political administration at a jirga of Otmankhel tribes in Bajaur Agency on Monday, officials and.

Frontier Constabulary officials said that the commanders had assured the jirga and the political authorities that they would not side with the Taliban in future. Locals said the jirga was held in Khar, where tribal elders handed over the 12 wanted individuals to the political authorities.

Salarzai and Mamoond tribes also held separate anti-Taliban jirgas in Bajaur on Monday. (ANI)