Helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts in northern Pakistan as the military scoured mountains on Friday for 16 missing soldiers believed kidnapped by Taliban rebels.
As the US called for greater efforts against militants using Pakistan's remote Hindu Kush mountains as a base, the military said at least 10 Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters were killed in the air attack on Thursday. The operation also involved ground forces in the restive North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, where military strikes on militants, suspected of launching attacks, have taken place all week. |