Orakzai Agency... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers...
, killing 16 fighters, a senior regional government official has said.
Tuesday's strike came a day after a local newspaper reported that Pakistain would launch an offensive in North Wazoo, a known sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters on the Afghan border.
Orakzai is one of the tribal regions along the Afghan border where the Mighty Pak Army has tried to root out gangs with offensives against their strongholds.
"We had information that faceless myrmidons gathered there and were planning attacks so we launched the attack," Zaman Khan, a senior government official, told Rooters in Kalaya, the main town of Orakzai.
He said six fighters were also maimed in the strike.
Pakistain's performance in fighting gangs has come under scrutiny after it was discovered that al-Qaeda chief the late Osama bin Laden
... who has won the race to that place where we all eventually end up...
had been living in the country.
Army operations have failed to break the back of gangs such as the Pak Taliban, who have stepped up suicide kabooms since US special forces killed bin Laden near Islamabad on May 2.
After the bin Laden raid, the United States told Pakistain it needed to step up the fight against gangs.