Paramilitary troops were able to return to their abandoned posts in part of the Khyber region Sunday as Pakistani forces widened their offensive against local militants in the volatile tribal area along the border with Afghanistan, an official said. The government launched the operation Saturday after militants in the area began threatening the nearby city of Peshawar and ambushed supply convoys bound for U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported. Troops from the paramilitary Frontier Corps, backed by tanks and armored personnel carriers, quickly cleared militants out of the Bara region, said Muhammad Siddiq Khan, a local official. A tribal paramilitary force that had been forced to abandon its posts in the region several months ago returned to the checkpoints Sunday, he said. The Frontier Corps met no resistance as it moved into other areas outside Bara, destroying militant bases along the way, he said.
