58 Pakistanis Killed by Army in Orakzai, May 17, 2010

58 Pakistanis Killed by Army in Orakzai

May 17, 2010

Editor's Note:

With absence of news sources for Pakistani Taliban fighters, as well as absence of independent verification, readers are advised that the following news reports are biased in favor of the Pakistani government and its NATO backers.

58 Taliban killed in Orakzai

Monday, May 17, 2010

Staff Report HANGU:

Security forces, backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships, killed 58 Taliban in Orakzai Agency on Sunday. Sources said around 18 Taliban fighters were killed and 25 others injured in a clash with the forces at Kol area of Dabori in Upper Orakzai.

Five security personnel were also injured in the clash, the sources said, adding that three explosives-laden vehicles were also destroyed in the fighting. Meanwhile, 35 Taliban fighters were killed and another 10 injured in airstrikes in Orakzai, the sources said.

They said the fighter jets bombed suspected terrorist hideouts in Dabori, Wali Qamar, Gujar Kaley and Tagah Sam areas of Upper Orakzai Agency, killing 15 Taliban and injuring 10. Helicopter gunships also pounded terrorist hideouts in the area, killing another 20 Taliban. Five of the Taliban’s hideouts were destroyed in the operations, the sources added.

One soldier, 19 Taliban killed in Pakistan clashes

Taliban fighters attacked a security checkpost in a restive northwestern Pakistani region on Monday, sparking clashes in which 19 (Taliban fighters) and one soldier were killed, officials said.

The fighting took place in Orakzai, an ethnic Pashtun tribal region where security forces have stepped up operations against (Taliban fighters) in recent months.

"Fierce clashes erupted after militants attacked the checkpost. Our forces successfully repulsed the attack," Khaista Rehman, a government official in Orakzai, told Reuters.

He said nineteen (Taliban fighters) and one paramilitary soldier were killed in the fighting.

There was no independent confirmation of the official death toll. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment. The group often dismisses government casualty figures.

Separately, eight (Taliban fighters) were killed and four paramilitary soldiers were wounded in overnight clashes in a nearby area, another government official said.

Pakistani security forces mounted major offensives against (Taliban fighters) in the northwestern Swat Valley and in their South Waziristan bastion near the Afghan border last year, killing hundreds of (Taliban fighters) and destroying their bases, according to government officials.

But (Taliban fighters) have shown resilience and carried out a wave of suicide and bomb attacks, mainly in the northwest.

Officials say a large number of (Taliban fighters) fleeing offensives in South Waziristan and Swat have taken shelter in Orakzai and neighbouring Kurram and Khyber regions.

Security forces have stepped up crackdown on (Taliban fighters) in these regions in recent months, keeping up pressure on Taliban fighters.

Suspected (Taliban fighters) dressed as policemen on Saturday kidnapped at least 60 people in two incidents in Kurram. Forty hostages were freed by the (Taliban fighters) while 10 escaped from their custody on Sunday, an official said.

Khalid Khan Omarzai, a senior regional government official, said the (Taliban fighters) had freed all remaining hostages on Monday.

"They are on their way back home," he told Reuters.

(Reporting by Hasan Mehmood; Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Michael Georgy)

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