15 Taliban Militants Killed in Pak Clashes
At least 15 Taliban militants were reportedly killed in clashes with Pakistani security forces. The fighting erupted after the militants attacked an army post and a cavalcade in the Bajaur area of country’s restive north western frontier along the Pak-Afghan border.
The reports citing a local government official say security forces employed helicopter gunships in the clashes that started Sunday afternoon and continued till around midnight.
“The Taliban first attacked our checkpoint and convoy and then we responded with ground and air attacks,” Abdul Malik, a local government official in Bajaur was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
A soldier was also killed in the fighting and 10 other militants were wounded.
Meanwhile the Pakistan Taliban has denied reports that said their leader Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone aircraft strike, added Reuters.
Pakistani military had earlier said it was investigating reports that Hakimullah died of wounds sustained in a drone attack on January 17 and that he had been buried in the Orakzai tribal region in the northwest of the country.
Security forces had launched an intensive campaign against the Taliban in Bajaur 2008 and declared the area by and large clear of the radical Taliban militants.
On Saturday, a suicide car-bombing killed 14 people in the vicinity of a security checkpost in the Khar town of Bajaur.
(Pic: Internet Files)
