Pakistani soldiers backed by jets and helicopters attacked Taliban positions in the northwestern Orakzai region yesterday, killing 12 militants, government officials said.
The assault came a day after fighter jets bombed a militant stronghold in the neighboring Khyber region on the Afghan border, killing 45 people, according to militant sources.
“Three Taliban hideouts have been destroyed and 12 militants have been killed in Orakzai,” Khaista Gul, a regional government official, told reporters.
Orakzai and Khyber are two of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun tribal regions, where militants and their al-Qaeda allies fighting both the Afghan and Pakistani governments entrenched themselves after US-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001.
Security forces have stepped up assaults in the northwest over the past year, largely clearing militants from the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, and the South Waziristan and Bajaur regions on the Afghan border.
Security forces are now focusing on other areas, in particular Orakzai and Khyber, where militants who fled the earlier sweeps have taken refuge.
The security forces’ successes have eased fears that nuclear-armed Pakistan, a vital ally for the US as it struggles to stabilize Afghanistan, was sliding into chaos.
Similarly, hopes for an easing of destabilizing political wrangling were raised last week when the National Assembly unanimously passed a set of constitutional reforms curbing the powers of unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari.
Optimism has been reflected in Pakistan’s stock market, where the main index is at levels not seen since 2008, supported by foreign buying.
Net foreign portfolio inflows were US$113 million last month, the second highest monthly inflow ever.
However, the militants have shown they are still capable of striking at high-profile targets in heavily guarded areas.
Militants attacked the US consulate in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday last week, killing five people, hours after a suicide bomber killed 48 people at a political rally in a nearby district.
A militant commander said on Saturday that civilians were also among 45 people killed in attacks in a border area between Orakzai and Khyber, but military officials denied it.
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