Military offensive: 9 Taliban militants killed, 5 injured in Kurram Agency

KOHAT: Helicopter gunships pounded the hideouts of militants in central Kurram Agency, near the Pak-Afghan border, killing nine suspected Taliban militants and injuring five others on Monday, claimed official sources in an area marred by sectarian violence for over a decade.

During the early hours today, helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts in the Ali Sherzai area of central Kurram Agency, where the local population has been evacuated to carry out an operation against militants.

"Nine militants were killed and five were injured," claimed an official.

Local sources said, "The security forces destroyed suspected militant hideouts in Myanzki Kandao and other areas throughout the night."

"A shell struck a hideout last night killing three militants," they added.

However, none of the claims could be independently verified.

Earlier, this month Shahab Ali Shah, the political agent of Kurram Agency said that the residents of Ali Sherzai were been evacuated to launch a military offensive in the area against Fazal Saeed Haqqani Group, a splinter group of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) led by Fazal Saeed, who has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks which killed scores of people.

Officials have claimed that 95% of the Agency has been cleared of militants, while the offensive will clear the rest of the areas of "non-state actors".