... Hangu is famous for its greenery, hills, beauty and water. Most of the people of this area are Bangash & Orakzai Pashtuns. Part of the Bangash are Shia. The Orakzai and the Sunni Bangash are determined to kill them...
, security officials said.
"Gunship helicopters engaged the hideouts after confirmed reports of the terrorists' presence," said one of the unnamed security officials.
Officials said the military launched the attack after confirming reports about the presence of hard boyz in Thall.
They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
According to sources, gunship helicopters pounded suspected bully boys' positions in Tora Wari and Dar Samand areas of Thall, following which nine hard boyz were killed whereas several hideouts were destroyed.
Sources added that gunships continued to hover after the shelling whereas panic spread in the area.
Hangu borders the northwestern tribal region of Orakzai, one of Pakistain's seven lawless districts on the Afghan border considered to be the hub of Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked bully boys.
These were the second air attacks against Pak Talibs this month in retaliation at strikes by bad boys, which have derailed peace talks.
Earlier this week, at least 35 hard boyz were killed as fighter jets targeted suspected bad boy hideouts in three different tehsils of the North
Wazoo tribal region.Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
had authorised the strikes, according to a source in his office.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), an umbrella grouping of numerous bully boy factions, has been waging a bloody campaign against the Pak state since 2007, carrying out a number of bomb and gun attacks, often on military targets.
Peace talks between the Taliban and the government, announced on January 29, stalled this week due to a recent surge in bad boy attacks and a claim by a Taliban faction on Sunday that it had killed 23 kidnapped soldiers.
Government mediators have set a ceasefire as a precondition for another round of talks but Shahidullah Shahid, a front man for the TTP, on Friday blamed Islamabad for the deadlock and asked the state to declare a ceasefire first.