PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 23, 2009 (AFP) - At least six Pakistani civilians were killed Monday in clashes between troops and militants as soldiers went on an offensive against Taliban lairs in a tribal district, officials said.
Mortar bombs smashed into private homes, killing the civilians in Landi Kotal town in Khyber, part of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border where US officials say Al-Qaeda leaders are plotting attacks on the West.
"Troops repulsed an attack by a group of 50 militants at a joint checkpost of army and Frontier Corps (FC) in Landi Kotal," a top local administration official, Shafeerullah Khan, told AFP.
He said at least six civilians living near the checkpost were killed after mortar bombs hit their houses.
A security official in the area confirmed the incident and said militants fled after troops retaliated. It was not clear who fired the mortars.
Officials said FC troops backed by attack helicopters went on the offensive against Taliban lairs in the neighbouring tribal district of Orakzai and nearby Hangu, killing at least 12 militants.
A senior security official said paramilitary troops entered Shahukhel area in Orkazai on Monday to hunt down rebels.
The operation was ordered in the light of intelligence reports linking militants in the area to recent attacks in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Suicide and bomb attacks have surged since Pakistan launched a major offensive on October 17 designed to wipe out homegrown Taliban fighters from safe havens in South Waziristan, further south in the tribal belt.
The United States is increasing pressure on Islamabad to fight not just militants who attack within Pakistan, but those using Pakistan as a base from which to fight the Kabul government and Western troops in Afghanistan.
But a security official in South Waziristan said there was no major movement by ground troops or fighter jet bombardments in the area on Monday due to bad weather and poor visibility as winter sets in.
Pakistan's military issued a statement saying nine militants were killed in the last 24 hours of operations.
The army provides the only regular information from the frontlines. Few of the details can be verified because communication lines are down and journalists and aid workers barred from independent access to the area.
Pakistan estimated 10,000 Tehreek-e-Taliban foot soldiers were holed up in South Waziristan. Although there has been resistance, many of the militants are believed to have escaped into Orakzai and North Waziristan.
Pakistan's northwest and tribal areas have been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters sought refuge there after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 11/23/2009 09:00:22
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