At least 39 militants were killed when Pakistani jets and helicopter gunships pounded positions of Taliban insurgents who had taken over homes of the minority Sikh community in the restive Orakzai tribal region.
At least 39 militants were killed when Pakistani jets and helicopter gunships pounded positions of Taliban insurgents who had taken over homes of the minority Sikh community in the restive Orakzai tribal region.
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Reports said 14 militant camps were destroyed during the air strikes in Chapri Ferozekhel and Ghiljo areas of Orakzai Agency yesterday.
At least 39 militants were killed in the air strikes, the Dawn newspaper reported on Friday.
Muhammad, a spokesman for Taliban commander Tariq Afridi, said 18 militants were killed in the air attack in Ferozekhel. A senior commander was among the militants killed, he added.
Militants affiliated with Afridi and Hakimullah Mehsud, a close aide of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, had occupied several homes of Sikhs in Orakzai Agency after they fled the troubled region.
The Sikhs left Orakzai Agency after they failed to pay jiziya or a tax on non-Muslims that was levied by the Taliban. Three homes of Sikhs, which the militants had turned into their centres, were targeted by the warplanes.
A woman and her child were also killed in the bombardment, media reports said.
Combat jets also pounded militant hideouts in the troubled South Waziristan region yesterday. Reports said Kifayatullah, a senior militant commander and a close relative of Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a recent US drone attack at Ladha in South Waziristan.
Following the frequent US drone attacks, militant commanders have decided not to gather in large numbers at funerals of slain militants in Waziristan.
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