Today in Pakistan's Orakzai Agency, the Pakistani military decided to pay the Taliban back for a Taliban attack on a security outpost and pay they did with 40 Taliban being killed in the retalitory strikes.
From the report at The Washington Post:
I'd like to hear more about this operation because it is being reported as being carried out by "security forcs" as in on the ground troops versus an airstrike or helicopter operation. But hey, to have 40 Taliban dead to start your Monday isn't half bad, huh?
Orakzai Agency has become the latest death mall for the Taliban lately with numerous Pakistani airstrikes and mini operations to root Taliban out of this area after it got flooded by the jihadis after operations in Swat and South Waziristan. It's also my feeling that the U.S. predator drone action that has been relentless in North Waziristan has also sent Taliban into Orakzai.
It's very encouraging to see the Pakistanis pushing back so immediately with a response like this - it's setting the stage for some serious learning curves by the Taliban.
From the report at The Washington Post:
Pakistani security forces killed dozens of Taliban in a counter offensive in northwestern Orakzai region on Monday after an attack on a security checkpost, officials said.
The militants attacked the checkpost in Shirin Darra, about 10 km (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 told Reuters.
A senior military official in the region confirmed the clash and the death toll, but there was no independent confirmation.
I'd like to hear more about this operation because it is being reported as being carried out by "security forcs" as in on the ground troops versus an airstrike or helicopter operation. But hey, to have 40 Taliban dead to start your Monday isn't half bad, huh?
Orakzai Agency has become the latest death mall for the Taliban lately with numerous Pakistani airstrikes and mini operations to root Taliban out of this area after it got flooded by the jihadis after operations in Swat and South Waziristan. It's also my feeling that the U.S. predator drone action that has been relentless in North Waziristan has also sent Taliban into Orakzai.
It's very encouraging to see the Pakistanis pushing back so immediately with a response like this - it's setting the stage for some serious learning curves by the Taliban.
Pakistani forces kill up to 40 militants in Orakzai
HANGU, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces killed dozens of Taliban in a counter offensive in northwestern Orakzai region on Monday after an attack on a security checkpost, officials said.
The militants attacked the checkpost in Shirin Darra, about 10 km (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 told Reuters.
A senior military official in the region confirmed the clash and the death toll, but there was no independent confirmation.
Orakzai is one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun tribal regions, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), strung out along the Afghan border.
Pakistani 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 on the Afghan border.
Fighting has intensified in recent weeks in Orakzai and the neighboring Khyber region, where officials said militants who fled the earlier sweeps had taken refuge.
Military officials said a large number of militants, including foreigners, are believed to have taken shelter in the remote Tirah Valley in Khyber.
MILITANT TRAINING CENTRES
Tirah is a forested, mountainous area on the borders of Orakzai, Khyber and Afghanistan and is a stronghold of the Lashkar-e-Islam, or Army of Islam, a militant group linked with Pakistani Taliban.
Forty-five people were killed in an attack by security forces in the valley on Saturday. Militants said civilians were also killed in the attack but military officials denied that.
The main route for Western forces' supplies trucked from Karachi port to landlocked Afghanistan winds through the Khyber Pass and militants have frequently attacked convoys there.
The security forces' successes over past year have eased fears that nuclear-armed Pakistan, a vital ally for the United States as it struggles to stabilize Afghanistan, was sliding into chaos.
Similarly, hopes for an easing of destabilizing political wrangling were raised last week when the National Assembly unanimously passed a set of constitutional reforms curbing the powers of unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari.
Optimism has been reflected in Pakistan's stock market, where the main index is at levels not seen since 2008, supported by foreign buying. Net foreign portfolio inflows were $113 million in March, the second highest monthly inflow ever.
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