| Security forces attacked suspected militant hideouts in the northwestern tribal region of Bajaur Friday with helicopter gunships and mortar fire, the army said. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the helicopters were operating in support of paramilitary troops on the ground. He provided no details. Residents in Bajaur's main town of Khar said they had seen the helicopters in the air and heard the sound of mortar fire. "Intense fighting is going on between soldiers and Taliban since Friday morning," a local resident said. He said he saw Taliban fighters going toward nearby villages of Loi Sam and Mamond. |