Pakistani Attack Helicopters Surprise Taliban At Leadership Meeting, 18 Killed

Wow. This is a NICE ONE! Two feuding Taliban groups in Orakzai agency in NW Pakistan held a big powwow this morning to settle their differences but an uninvited guest showed up...a bunch of Pakistani attack helicopters who took it to the Taliban killing 18 of them.

From the article at DAWN:

‘At least 18 militants were killed when helicopters pounded Toorikhel town of Orakzai when militants were holding an important meeting Tuesday,’ paramilitary spokesman Major Fazlur Rehman said.
The meeting, chaired by local Taliban commander Qari Ismail, was held to arrange reconciliation between two feuding groups of militants, he said. It was not immediately clear if Ismail was among the dead.

At the same time, you'll see in the article that more attacks were made in the area by the Pakistani military so it is indeed great news.

Who knows, maybe the Pakistanis are deciding that the targets are just to plentiful in Orakzai to bypass the opportunity...but the test will be how the government stomachs the retaliation for this attack on this leadership meeting.

Troops kill 43 in Orakzai, Kurram operations: officials

PESHAWAR: Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships have pounded suspected Taliban hideouts in the northwest tribal belt, killing at least 43 militants, officials said Wednesday.
The armed forces targeted Orakzai and Kurram districts, strongholds of militants linked to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
‘At least 18 militants were killed when helicopters pounded Toorikhel town of Orakzai when militants were holding an important meeting Tuesday,’ paramilitary spokesman Major Fazlur Rehman said.
The meeting, chaired by local Taliban commander Qari Ismail, was held to arrange reconciliation between two feuding groups of militants, he said. It was not immediately clear if Ismail was among the dead.
Local administration official Riaz Khan confirmed the toll, and said four more people were killed in airstrikes in Orkazai’s Sultanzai town. Seven militant hideouts and five vehicles were also destroyed, he added.
The military also mounted a ground and air operation in Dagar town of Kurram region on Tuesday, killing 21 militants, Rehman said, adding that the operations continued on Wednesday.
(Fleeing the fighting, more than 1200 resident families have migrated to safer areas of Kurram Agency and Hangu district, DawnNews adds.)
Such death tolls supplied by the military are impossible to confirm independently, with the region out of bounds to media and most aid groups. —AFP