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TTP commander escapes unhurt from airstrike in Orakzai
Taliban commander Maulvi Hakimullah Mehsud escaped unhurt from an airstrike by Pakistan's military on Sunday, a Taliban spokesman told CNN.
On Saturday, Mehsud had claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack on a security convoy in Hangu. At least 28 people were killed in that attack and about 30 were wounded. Officials and a tribal elder said families had begun fleeing Orakzai Agency amid a military bombing campaign against Taliban hideouts. Fighter jets and gunship helicopter pounded the hideouts Sunday night, killing at least one person and wounding three others, said Mohammad Yasin, a local government official. A senior military official said at least eight Taliban died. Unrest in the tribal belt has displaced hundreds of thousands of people over the last year. "People are afraid," said Azam Khan, an Orakzai tribal elder. "They are scared, because it was a consistent bombing by the jets the whole of last night. Scores of families are leaving the region." Also early on Monday, the bullet-riddled body of an Afghan man was found near Mir Ali in North Waziristan, along with a note accusing him of spying for the United States. In Bajaur, local officials said some of Baitullah Mehsud's supporters killed two followers of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad. Posted by: Fred 2009-04-21 |
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