ISLAMABAD - Pakistani troops backed by jets and helicopter gunships
have killed 40 militants in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan
in the past three days, a military commander said Thursday.
Brigadier
Aftab Ahmad told AFP by telephone that his forces had destroyed 17
militant hideouts in the Baizai region under his command in the lawless
tribal area of Mohmand.
"Militants were regularly
attacking our posts on the Afghanistan border at Shonkari and Mithai
and also targeting goods vehicles going to Afghanistan," he said.
Ghalanai
is the main town in Mohmand, where Pakistan has recently stepped up
raids on militant hideouts, as it faces American pressure to conduct a
separate offensive against the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network in North
Waziristan.
"An operation was launched three days ago with
the support of army aviation aircraft, helicopters and fighter jets. We
killed at least 40 militants," Ahmad said.
Maqsood
Hussain, a government official in Baizai, confirmed the raids and
casualties, but it was not immediately clear how the Pakistani
officials reached the body count of 40.
Mohmand is one of
seven districts in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt, where
Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants have carved out strongholds used
to plot attacks on Pakistani, Afghan and Western targets.
Washington has called the tribal belt the most dangerous place on Earth and the global headquarters of al-Qaida.
Pakistan
has been under huge American pressure to do more to destroy militant
sanctuaries since U.S. Navy SEALs found and killed Osama bin Laden in
the Pakistani military town of Abbottabad on May 2. AFP
