HANGU, Pakistan – Pakistani security forces killed dozens of Taliban in a counter-offensive in the northwestern Orakzai region yesterday after an attack on a security checkpoint, officials said.
The militants attacked the checkpoint in Shirin Darra, about 10km (six miles) from the region’s main town of Kalaya early in the morning, killing two soldiers.
“Initial reports suggest 35 to 40 militants have been killed,” Khaista Rehman, a regional government official, said.
Orakzai is one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun tribal regions, situated along the Afghan border.
Security forces have stepped up assaults in the northwest over the past year, largely clearing militants from the Swat valley northwest of Islamabad, and the South Waziristan and Bajaur regions. – (Reuters)