Official: Troops kill 21 militants in Pakistan’s Taliban-infested northwest
By APSunday, April 4, 2010
Official: Troops kill 21 militants in NW Pakistan
PARACHINAR, Pakistan — A Pakistani government official says security forces repulsed a militant attack against an army checkpoint in a northwestern tribal region and killed 21 insurgents.
Samiullah Khan, a senior government administrator in the Orakzai region, says troops and artillery successfully defended the checkpoint. Orakzai is a Pakistani Taliban stronghold.
Pakistani forces began an operation in Orakzai in mid-March to flush out militants who fled an earlier army offensive against the group’s main base in nearby South Waziristan.
Khan says more 250 militants have been killed.
Thousands of civilians have moved to a government camp in nearby Kohat district or moved in with relatives in neighboring regions to escape the fighting.
