| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Eighteen militants killed as jets pound Orakzai hideouts |
| 2010-03-15 |
| Fighter planes bombed Taliban positions in the northwest on Sunday, killing 18 militants and destroying three hideouts, a government official said. Militants have gone on the offensive again after a recent lull in violence, challenging government assertions that an assault in the militant stronghold of South Waziristan had dealt a major blow to Pakistan's al Qaeda-backed Taliban. The airstrikes came after a week of bombings which killed 81 people, including soldiers, policemen and aid workers in the northwest and eastern regions of Pakistan. Khaista Akbar, a government official, told Reuters the fighter jets carried out the strikes in the Ghund Mela village of Orakzai, an ethnic Pashtun tribal region. "They carried out intense bombings and precisely targeted militant hideouts," he said. The bombing killed 18 militants and completely destroyed three hideouts, he said. The Pakistani Taliban have attacked many targets, including a volleyball match and army headquarters in the town of Rawalpindi, close to the capital, Islamabad. |
| Posted by:Fred |