Since two Chinese engineers were kidnapped in Pakistan's western tribal belt last month, the country's military has been hunting for Abdullah Mahsud, the master-mind of the incident, in the South Waziristan tribal area.

This reporter entered the battle ground Saturday, seeing the fight between Abdullah-led guerrillas and military troops going on.

Standing on the battle-line on top of the rugged highland of Kawana Manza, neighboring Afghanistan, sporadic gunshots and artillery rounds could be clearly heard.

Major General Niaz Ahmed Khattak, top commander of the hunting mission, told Xinhua that around 50 militants were hiding on the bush-covered opposite hilltop, exchanged fire with some 700 army forces stationed at Kawana Manza.

The general said 7,000 troops under his charge had been fighting with Abdullah and his over 500 men in the whole region of South Waziristan since last month.

About 30 to 40 militants were believed to have been killed so far, said the general, adding that however, only six dead bodies had been recovered. Among them, an Uzbek passport was found and nationalities of the other five could not be clinched.

Three troops had been killed and 22 others injured, Khattak said.

South Waziristan was now totally under the control of the military and by intercepting the communication signals from the other side, the military believed that Abdullah had been cornered in the area, the general noted.

The same day this reporter flew aboard an army helicopter to Nanu, the native village of Abdullah which is under the military occupation.

In case of any rocket attack from the ground, the ride was covered by two other choppers attired with missiles.

"With all those bushes on top, the mountainous region is a heaven for the guerrillas, " Captain Sajid Nadeem told Xinhua on board.

The Nanu village is dominated by around 1,500 troops with around 100 mud shelters all vacated and civilians all shifted to other places.

Lieutenant Colonel Azmat Qamat, the commanding officer here, told Xinhua that some 50 militants were still hiding out outside the village and the forces in groups at a platoon size had been in an effort to pin them down.

Nanu used to be a stronghold of Abdullah and his team with lots of caves and trenches being dug here for fighting and for the stock of weapons.

This reporter saw at the backyard of Abdullah's house a huge cache of weapons and ammunition showed off by the military, including three heavy machine-guns, some 40 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and explosives.

The arsenal was recovered on Nov. 9, said the military.

Major General Khattak said the army was squeezing Abdullah and his henchmen among 17 villages from one to another in South Waziristan, in a bid to cut their logistic supply, pushing them to a show-hand or a surrender.

Local tribal elders are displaying a cooperative mood and five Taliban sympathizers wanted by the government have surrendered to the authority.

However, even the general could not predict a possible date for the catch of Abdullah, a 29-year-old one-legged Jihadi, who fought in the neighboring Afghanistan in the US-led war on terror starting in 2001.

Five militants given instructions by Abdullah abducted two Chinese engineers in the South Waziristan on Oct. 9. After days of negotiations failed, the military launched a rescue operation on Oct. 14, leaving one of the hostages killed, the other freed unhurt.

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2004)