Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships launched a fresh assault on al Qaeda-linked militants on Thursday in rugged mountains bordering Afghanistan, witnesses and officials said. Dozens of transport and gunship helicopters headed toward the mountains near Angor Adda, 60 km (38 miles) west of South Waziristan's main town of Wana, to hunt foreign militants and their local supporters, they said. "It is the continuation of the operation which started last week in response to the attack on our security forces," military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told Reuters in Islamabad. "Wherever we find a hideout or base of militants we will knock it out," he said, declining to give further details.
| Gee, maybe they really mean business this time. |
But witnesses in Angor Adda said they heard helicopters fire rockets at suspected militant hideouts. Since early Thursday morning, many helicopters had been seen flying in the direction of Angor Adda, residents in Wana added. Pakistan's military ended a five-day crackdown on militants on Sunday in the Shakai area, 17 km (11 miles) west of Wana and some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the capital Islamabad. More than 55 militants, most of them foreigners, and 17 security personnel were killed in fierce clashes, and at least 10 militants were arrested.
| For Pakistan, that's not a bad kill ratio. |
In a separate incident, militants fired three rockets at a Pakistani security post around 40 km (25 miles) north of Wana in a pre-dawn raid, but there were no reports of casualties, witnesses said. Pakistan says that up to 600 foreign militants, including Arabs, Chechens and Uzbeks linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, have been hiding out in tribal areas protected by Pakistani tribesmen. In neighboring Afghanistan, the U.S. military leads about 20,000 soldiers in a hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban militants believed to be hiding near the Pakistan border. The Americans want to create a "hammer and anvil" effect along the border to crush insurgents blamed for escalating violence in Afghanistan ahead of elections in September. |