Sunday, April 4, 2010
Pakistani security forces, aided by artillery and tanks killed 38 Taliban insurgents today in two separate attacks near the Afghanistan border in the Orakzai district of the North-West Frontier Province of the country, according to government officials.
Security men say that Orakzai, located to the southwest of Peshawar, became a Taliban stronghold since the army led offensives against other Taliban areas in different parts of northwest Pakistan.
An army checkpoint in Sayd Khalil Baba village was attacked by militants early on Sunday. However, security troops killed 26 insurgents with artillery fire, according to Samiullah Khan, a senior administrative official in the area. Sajid Khan, another government official of Orakzai told the Reuters news agency that scores of militants attacked the checkpost in the village on Sunday morning. “They used rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns, but our soldiers’ response was quick and tough,” he added. Ten militants were wounded in this attack according to the latter, who is based in Kalaya, the district’s principal town.
Within hours, a military convoy was ambushed by Taliban attackers in an adjoining village. At least a dozen insurgents were killed in this attack, according to local authorities. Officials said only Pakistani soldier was injured in the attack. There was no confirmation of the figures provided by administrative officials available news agencies, as journalists are prohibited from entering the area.
Security officials claimed around 250 militants have been killed in several clashes in the Orakzai district. Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud was believed to have control over this region. The latter is thought to have been killed in an U.S. drone strike in January this year.