You know, if you had gone out on your deck or out into your yard very early this morning and listened very closely to the West, you just might have heard JDAMs and rockets from Pakistani aircraft doing one helluva number on Taliban forces in the NW Pakistani area of Orakzai Agency. When all of the dust, blood and body parts settled, 58 Taliban were killed in the strikes.
From the report at Breitbart:
We've discussed it before that Orakzai has become a funneling point for Taliban who have been chased out of Swat, South and North Waziristan and even the southern points of Afghanistan and the Pakistani military is finding it like shooting fish in a barrel. It's my feeling that at some point in time, the Taliban are going to have to make a decision - to continue to try and continue their holing up in Pakistan or to go back to Afghanistan and take their chances. At this point, even with the U.S. predator attacks and the Pakistani military offensives, it is still safer than facing U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan but that could certainly change - losing 58 jihadis in one day is going to sour even the toughest Taliban leaders against the safe haven status of Pakistan.
From the report at Breitbart:
PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) - The military killed 58 suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday with a mix of airstrikes and ground combat, the latest violence in a months-long campaign to rout Taliban fighters from a mountainous area near the Afghan border.
The Pakistani military launched the ongoing offensive in the Orakzai tribal region in mid-March to flush out militants who last year fled an army offensive in nearby South Waziristan. Persistent artillery and aircraft attacks have killed hundreds of insurgents over the past two months, the military says.
Fighter jets and helicopter gunships attacked militant sanctuaries Sunday in the villages of Dabori, Gojar and Kamer Mela in Orakzai, killing 40 suspected insurgents, said Samiullah Khan, a senior government administrator in Orakzai.
Later in the day, troops attacked militant hide-outs in Koul village, triggering clashes that killed 18 suspected insurgents, said Jehanzeb Khan, a local administrator. Five soldiers and at least 25 militants were wounded in the fighting. The injured militants were taken into custody, he said.
We've discussed it before that Orakzai has become a funneling point for Taliban who have been chased out of Swat, South and North Waziristan and even the southern points of Afghanistan and the Pakistani military is finding it like shooting fish in a barrel. It's my feeling that at some point in time, the Taliban are going to have to make a decision - to continue to try and continue their holing up in Pakistan or to go back to Afghanistan and take their chances. At this point, even with the U.S. predator attacks and the Pakistani military offensives, it is still safer than facing U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan but that could certainly change - losing 58 jihadis in one day is going to sour even the toughest Taliban leaders against the safe haven status of Pakistan.
Pakistani military kills 58 suspected militants
PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) - The military killed 58 suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday with a mix of airstrikes and ground combat, the latest violence in a months-long campaign to rout Taliban fighters from a mountainous area near the Afghan border.
The Pakistani military launched the ongoing offensive in the Orakzai tribal region in mid-March to flush out militants who last year fled an army offensive in nearby South Waziristan. Persistent artillery and aircraft attacks have killed hundreds of insurgents over the past two months, the military says.
Fighter jets and helicopter gunships attacked militant sanctuaries Sunday in the villages of Dabori, Gojar and Kamer Mela in Orakzai, killing 40 suspected insurgents, said Samiullah Khan, a senior government administrator in Orakzai.
Later in the day, troops attacked militant hide-outs in Koul village, triggering clashes that killed 18 suspected insurgents, said Jehanzeb Khan, a local administrator. Five soldiers and at least 25 militants were wounded in the fighting. The injured militants were taken into custody, he said.
It was impossible to independently confirm the casualties and their identities because the region is remote and dangerous and media access restricted.
Thousands of people have fled the offensive in the area and many have moved in with relatives in nearby districts.
Elsewhere in Pakistan's tribal region Sunday, militants who kidnapped 60 people at gunpoint the day before released 40 of their hostages, said local administrator Rasheed Khan.
Another 10 people told the local government they managed to escape the militants, who ambushed the group in Kurram as they headed to the northwestern city of Peshawar, said Khan.
The hostages released by the militants were mostly women, children and poor men, said Khan. The kidnappers kept the wealthier men so they could demand ransom from their families, he said.
"Now the militants only have 10 people in their custody, and efforts are under way to recover them," said Khan.
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