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8 Taliban killed in S Waziristan airstrike
At least eight people were killed and two injured as fighter jets pounded Taliban hideouts in Sararogha tehsil of South Waziristan, reported a private news channel on Sunday. The channel quoted its sources as saying that at least two fighter jets targeted the hideouts in Hamdana area at around 2pm. The death toll is expected to rise. Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen killed a local Taliban commander identified as Maulvi Noor Muhammad in North Waziristan. The Taliban commander was targeted on the outskirts of Miranshah. "Unknown gunmen fired at Maulvi Noor Mohammad outside a residence of his relatives on the outskirts of Miranshah on Friday ... the assailants escaped," the AFP news agency quoted local official Khadim Ali as saying. An intelligence official also confirmed the killing, but said the number of gunmen and the motive behind the attack were not yet clear. However, the AP news agency quoted a local Taliban member as saying that Maulvi Noor Mohammad was ambushed on Saturday night by relatives of a man he recently tortured and killed. Intelligence officials say Noor Muhammad led a group of about 400 men, who focused on staging cross-border attacks against US and NATO troops in Afghanistan in coordination with other commanders in the area. Noor Muhammad's killing was the latest in a number of reports -- almost impossible to confirm independently -- of the deaths of mid-level and senior Taliban figures. Interior Minister Rehman Malik had on Saturday said it was likely that Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, deputy of the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), was killed in an air strike in Mohmand tribal district. Posted by: Fred 2010-03-08 |
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