Official: Fighter jets pound suspected militant hide-outs, kill 20 in northwest Pakistan
By Hussain Afzal, APWednesday, June 30, 2010
Pakistan: Jets kill 20 suspected militants in NW
PARACHINAR, Pakistan — A government official says fighter jets have bombed suspected militant hide-outs in a new assault on a Pakistan tribal region where the army had previously declared victory. He says at least 20 people have died.
Samiullah Khan, a deputy administrator in the Orakzai tribal region, says the aerial bombings Wednesday destroyed six Taliban hide-outs in the region.
Khan says field informants confirmed the killing of 20 suspected militants.
Pakistan’s army has been bombing Orakzai for months, believing it to be a hiding place for Taliban fighters fleeing another offensive further south in the tribal belt.
It declared victory there in early June, but violence persists.
(This version CORRECTS that it is Pakistan tribal region in first paragraph)
