Pakistan offensive kills 34 militants after bomb, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 February 2010
EXCERPT: "Pakistani officials said on Monday that troops backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships killed 34 militants in the wake of a suicide attack in a district near the Afghan border. Pakistan's Frontier Corps have stepped up an offensive targeting Taliban havens in Bajaur district and four soldiers have been wounded in gunfights, a paramilitary official said. Pakistan intensified the raids around the towns of Mamoond and Salarzai towns after a suicide bomber attacked a military checkpoint, killing 17 people in the district's main town of Khar on Saturday. 'A total of 34 militants have been killed and an unknown number of them were injured in two days,' Abdul Malik, a local administrative official told AFP by telephone. 'Ground troops pounded the hideouts with artillery while fighter jets carried air strikes and gunship helicopters shelled their bases,' he added. Pakistan has slapped an indefinite curfew in Khar, Mamoond and Salarzai, and has closed all major roads in the area. District security and intelligence officials confirmed the ground and air offensive, claiming that militants were suffering 'heavy losses'."
Read the full story.
Related articles:
Pakistan: 25 dead in suicide bomb, US missile hit, The Associated Press via Yahoo! News, 30 January 2010
Forces take control of militants' stronghold after seven years, The News International, 1 February 2010
Forces accused of violating North Waziristan peace accord, The News International, 1 February 2010
Suicide
bomber kills 17 Pakistanis in Bajaur [blog], The Long War Journal,
30 January 2010
Related media:
Pakistan: Heading to civil war? [video interview], Al Jazeera, 31 January 2010
Related posts:
Rift among Bajaur Taliban widens as casualties mount, 29 January 2010
Army attacks militant hideout on Afghan border in N. Waziristan, 22 January 2010
Despite renewed pressure from US, Pak army says no new offensives planned, 21 January 2010
US "trusts" pak military on N Waziristan offensive, 14 January 2010
Pakistan turns down key US antiterrorism requests, 17 December 2009
