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Airstrikes kill 48 militants in northwest Pakistan
[ARABNEWS] Airstrikes targeting suspected Taliban hide-outs in a restive tribal district of northwest Pakistain killed 48 holy warriors on Tuesday, the military said, as six civilians died in a roadside kaboom.

The armed forces have since June been waging an assault to wipe out strongholds of the Pak Taliban and other holy warriors in North Wazoo and other tribal areas, killing at least 600 holy warriors according to the military.

An initial round of strikes killed 18 holy warriors on Tuesday morning, a statement from the armed forces said, and 30 more died in later attacks from helicopter gunships.

"Five hide-outs were wiped out in Khyber and seven were eliminated in North Waziristan," the military said.

Security officials said a house belonging to Taliban capo and Al-Qaeda-linked warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadar was destroyed in the strikes. Bahadar had already fled the area, officials said.

The roadside kaboom was mounted in the Salarzai area of Bajaur, another tribal area on the Afghan border which has recently been attacked by holy warriors from across the frontier.

Officials said the dead included three female schoolteachers and two of their infant children.

"According to initial reports, six civilians, including three lady teachers, two children and one passerby have embraced martyrdom," a security official said.

Local administration official Sohail Khan confirmed the incident.

Another official in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
said the van was carrying the women and their children to a community school run by an aid group funded by international charities.

No group grabbed credit, but Islamist holy warriors hiding in the lawless border areas have carried out such attacks in the past.

Pak jets and artillery began hitting rebel targets in mid-June to try to regain full control of the district and ground forces moved in on June 30.


Posted by: Fred 2014-08-20
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=398174