Peshawar: American drones carried out one
of their deadliest strikes in Pakistan`s troubled northwest
firing 18 missiles to hit multiple Taliban targets, including
terrorist training camps, hideouts and vehicles killing 15
militants.
Simultaneously Pakistani forces using helicopter
gunships blasted Taliban sanctuaries in Orakzai tribal region
killing eight militants and wounding five others, security
officials said.
Five unmanned Predators fired a barrage of Hellfire
missiles which struck a terrorist training camp, moving
vehicles in Lawara Mandi area of North Waziristan Agency,
considered to be a stronghold of Haqqani fighters, Taliban and
al-Qaeda.
In the attack that lasted over 20 minutes, 15
militants were killed and the death toll could rise further as
militants were still searching the rubble in the compound, an
official said.
This was the third strike in the same semi-mountainous
area and came just a week after US accused Pakistani Taliban
of hatching the botched plot to bomb New York`s famous Times
Square.
Faisal Shahzad, an American citizen of Pakistani
origin held for the failed bombing, claimed he was trained in
camps in Waziristan.
Local officials told TV networks that the training
camp was run by a militant warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur with
close ties to Afghan Taliban.
Though, reports claimed that foreign terrorists were
killed in the strike, there was no official word whether there
was a high value target among the victims.
US has been targeting north Waziristan in a relentless
campaign using the drones. Almost all the 30 attacks in recent
months have been in the region where American intelligence
suspect that Haqqani network fighters as well as Al-Qaeda
commanders are hiding.
As the drones were circling Waziristan, Pakistani
forces unleashed helicopters gunship to pound Taliban
positions in the volatile Orakzai tribal region, killing eight
militants.
The air strikes targeted militant hideouts in Tagha,
Saam, Mishti Mela and Kole Bargan areas of Orakzai Agency.
Three militant compounds were also destroyed in the air
strikes, officials said.
Over 600 militants have been killed since troops
launched an offensive to flush out militants from the Orakzai
Agency. The figure cannot be independently confirmed as
journalists have no access to the conflict zone.
PTI
