TROOPS ATTACKED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 308, 27 November 1936, Page 7

TROOPS ATTACKED

ON INDIAN FRONTIER. AMBUSH BY TRIBESMEN. OFFICERS KILLED. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received November 27, 9.50 a.m. NEW DELHI, Nov. 2G. When tribesmen ambushed a British column which had been sent to Waziristan, a North-West Frontier province, in consequence of tribal disaffection, two British officers, one British private, and . fourteen Indian soldiers were killed. Seventy-nine soldiers, of whom none were British, were wounded. The column, which came front Razmak, was ambushed in Khaisora Valley. Its mission was to strengthen the proGovernment Party, and expel a firebrand agitator. No punitive measures were intended. The attack was unexpected. The tribesmen were driven off • with the assistance of aircraft. HISTORY OF INCIDENT. FAKIR’S ACTIVITIES. (Times Cables.) Received November 27, 11.50 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 26. Describing the circumstances leading up to the engagement in the Khaisora Valley, the Times Delhi correspondent says the firebrand Fakir Ipr had been causing unrest for some months by his attitude in connection with the alleged conversion of a Hindu girl to Islam, at Bannii. . He fled last April as a result of Government action, taking refuge among the tribal elements in the Khaisora Valley, where he continued his anti-Government propaganda. Government supporters appealed to the tribe to expel the fakir or end his activities. The tribe replied.that they were unable to control the fakir. Thereupon, two coloumns left Mirali Damdil to march through the disaffected area. The sole purpose was to stiffen the tribal attitude against the fakir. The columns, however, were unexpectedly stubbornly opposed by large numbers of tribesmen, and heavy fighting ensued.