Pakistani security forces kill 27 militants near Afghan border, official says

Official: Pakistani forces kill 27 militants in NW

PARACHINAR, Pakistan — Pakistani security forces attacked a militant hide-out in a troubled tribal region near Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least 27 militants, an official said.

The latest military action in the Orakzai tribal region was part of a recently launched operation aimed at flushing out foreign and Pakistani militants who last year fled an army onslaught further south.

Government official Sami Ullah said ground forces and army helicopters took part in Saturday’s offensive against militants in Orakzai and troops captured six insurgents after the fighting.

It was not immediately possible to get independent confirmation of the casualties and the identities of those killed in the remote and volatile region.

Ullah said Pakistani forces have killed about 250 militants in the region in the past three weeks, while the security forces had also cleared several militant strongholds, and the insurgents were on the run.

Orakzai usually has a population of 450,000 and borders the tribal regions of Khyber and Kurram. But the violence there has forced tens of thousands of civilians to move to safer places in recent months.

At least 10,000 people left Orakzai and moved to a camp in the nearby Kohat region since the latest offensive began there in the second week of March.

Washington has praised Islamabad for targeting militant strongholds in various tribal regions.

The CIA has also launched scores of missile attacks near the Afghan border, killing Taliban, al-Qaida men and local insurgents.

Pakistani Taliban have responded with suicide and bomb attacks on police and civilians in major cities.