Air strikes kill 12 militants in NW Pakistan
Source: AFP
KHAR, Pakistan — Pakistani fighter jets and gunship helicopters shelled two Taliban strongholds killing 12 suspected militants on Monday in the northwest tribal belt, security officials said.The air strikes hit in mountainous and remote areas of Bajaur district, which borders Afghanistan and has been the target of repeated military operations to try to destroy Islamist insurgent hideouts.
The first bombing raid took place in Mamoond town, a well-known stronghold of Taliban militants about 25 kilometres (15 miles) northeast of the main district town of Khar.
"Air strikes by the jet fighters continued for more than two hours. Ten militants have been killed and several hideouts were destroyed," a paramilitary Frontier Corps official in Khar told AFP.
Firamosh Khan, a local administrative official, confirmed the shelling and said "it is true that several militants were killed."
Gunship helicopters also shelled Salarzai town, about 20 kilometres northwest of Khar, and killed two militants, a security official said.
A local intelligence official confirmed the attack and toll. He also refused to be named as he was was not permitted to speak to the media.
Bajaur was the scene of a major anti-militant operation in August 2008 and in February 2009 the military claimed the area had been secured.
But unrest has rumbled on, and the military have again been staging ground and air assaults on Bajaur, part of an ambitious new push against Taliban strongholds across the northwest launched last year.
Pakistan sent about 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships into battle against the Taliban in South Waziristan in October, and says they are making progress and that militants are fleeing.
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