MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Pakistani helicopter gunships pounded suspected militant hideouts near the Afghan border Sunday, killing 15 militants, most of them foreign fighters, the military said. “The death toll is 15 now. They are all militants, the majority of them foreigners. They are mostly Uzbeks,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.The general confirmed earlier reports that two women had been killed in the operation targeting two suspected militant compounds in the restive North Waziristan region, adding that they were ”members of militant families”.
Earlier a local administration official and security forces told AFP on condition of anonymity that two children were killed along with the women when the attack demolished a house near the town of Mir Ali. “It was a targeted operation against militants,” insisted Arshad.
Four helicopters carried out Sunday’s attack, which lasted for more than two hours, the general said. “The attack was launched after credible reports that some foreign elements were using the compounds as hideouts,” said Arshad.