...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.
school massacre, which left 150 people dead in the country's worst ever terror attack, officials said Friday.
Named only as "Saddam", the holy warrior was killed Thursday night in a shootout with security forces in the restive Khyber tribal area, which borders the northwestern city of Peshawar where last week's horrific attack took place.
"Commander Saddam was a dreaded terrorist, who was killed in an exchange of fire with the security forces in Jamrud town of Khyber tribal region," top local administration official Shahab Ali Shah told a presser in Peshawar.
"Six of his accomplices were maimed and tossed in the clink
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
He added that Saddam is believed to have facilitated the school attack, although the extent or capacity of his alleged involvement was not yet known.
"Authorities are currently interrogating the injured terrorists," Shah said.
He described Saddam as an important commander in the Pak Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), and said he had criminal masterminded several kabooms.
Saddam and his accomplices had been involved in several recent attacks on security forces that had resulted in heavy casualties, Shah said.
The military said it killed 23 Lions of Islam in aerial strikes in the troubled northwest near the Afghan border on Friday evening.
"In very effective and precise aerial strikes in North
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Wazoo this evening, 23 "A huge underground ammunition dump and tunnel system have been destroyed," it added.
The Taliban and other Lions of Islam have taken refuge in Khyber from a major army offensive launched in June in North Waziristan, another restive tribal area on the Afghan border that has been a hub for al-Qaeda and Talibs since the early 2000s.
Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, the enormous newt was trying to decide if Gloria was edible...
a U.S. drone strike on a Taliban compound in North Waziristan killed at least four Lions of Islam on Friday, officials said, the second such incident in a week.
Another drone strike in North Waziristan on December 20 killed at least five holy warriors, officials said.
The area is generally off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of the dead.
Washington pressed Islamabad for years to wipe out holy warrior sanctuaries in North Waziristan, which have been used to launch attacks on NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization....
forces in Afghanistan.
The Pak military says it has killed more than 1,700 Lions of Islam so far in its heavy offensive in the tribal zone, with 126 soldiers having bit the dust.
Pakistain has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the December 16 slaughter at an army-run school in Peshawar, where 134 children were among the victims bumped off by heavily-armed Talibs.
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...
has announced the establishment of military courts for terror-related cases in order to accelerate trials, and he has also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.
Officials said Monday that Pakistain plans to execute around 500 Lions of Islam in the coming weeks.