Wow! Great follow up news to the story yesterday of U.S. forces killing 22 Taliban in Afghanistan...Pakistani forces in Mohmand province near the Afghan border attacked Taliban forces and killed 38! Could we be on a roll?! Here are some of the details from the report over at Yahoo News:
Since some of the furor has settled down with the aftermath of the Mumbai attack and what India's response might be, the Pakistanis seem to have gone back to their aggressive approach against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the NW are of Pakistan. I think the Pakistanis are a little unsettled in the perception of their efforts against terror and especially since NATO forces in Afghanistan have had to really look at an alternative supply route into Afghanistan due to the frequent closures and attacks of and on the Pakistani supply route. Although the Pakistanis won't admit it, it is critical to them financially and politically to be perceived by the West as a partner in the war on terror.
Pakistani security forces backed by aircraft killed 38 Taliban insurgents on Tuesday in an offensive in the Mohmand region on the Afghan border, government and paramilitary officials said.
"The operation has been successful. Their power has been reduced, we're facing less resistance," a senior government official in the region, Shahidullah Khan, told Reuters by telephone.
Security forces have recently stepped up their operations in Mohmand, which is to the north of the city of Peshawar, to fight al Qaeda and Taliban militants fleeing a military offensive in the Bajaur region, to the north.
Since some of the furor has settled down with the aftermath of the Mumbai attack and what India's response might be, the Pakistanis seem to have gone back to their aggressive approach against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the NW are of Pakistan. I think the Pakistanis are a little unsettled in the perception of their efforts against terror and especially since NATO forces in Afghanistan have had to really look at an alternative supply route into Afghanistan due to the frequent closures and attacks of and on the Pakistani supply route. Although the Pakistanis won't admit it, it is critical to them financially and politically to be perceived by the West as a partner in the war on terror.
Pakistan assault kills 38 militants
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces backed by aircraft killed 38 Taliban insurgents on Tuesday in an offensive in the Mohmand region on the Afghan border, government and paramilitary officials said.
Pakistan is struggling to stem Islamist militant influence and violence in the northwest as it keeps a wary eye on its eastern border with India after militant attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai led to a spike in tension between the neighbours.
The fighting came as U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus arrived in Pakistan for talks with government and military leaders.
"The operation has been successful. Their power has been reduced, we're facing less resistance," a senior government official in the region, Shahidullah Khan, told Reuters by telephone.
Khan and the paramilitary Mohmand Rifles force said 38 militants had been killed Tuesday. The force said 22 militants had been killed in fighting Monday.
Khan said there had been no casualties on the government side. There was no independent verification of the government's casualty figures.
Security forces have recently stepped up their operations in Mohmand, which is to the north of the city of Peshawar, to fight al Qaeda and Taliban militants fleeing a military offensive in the Bajaur region, to the north.
The United States and Afghanistan have for years urged Pakistan to eliminate militant bases in lawless ethnic Pashtun tribal regions on the border from where the Taliban infiltrate into Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces.
The paramilitary force said two militant strongholds had been destroyed and another two were being attacked. Several Taliban commanders had been killed, it said in a release.
A spokesman for the force said earlier the assault was focussed on five border villages controlled by militants.
Villagers said the soldiers were also using tanks and artillery in the fighting and at least 12 civilians had been wounded in air strikes.
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