24 militants killed in fresh air raids

At least 24 suspected militants were killed and 13 injured when warplanes pounded militant hideouts in Orakzai Agency on Saturday, sources said.

Four militant hideouts were also destroyed in the blitz in Ismail Zai and other areas of Upper Orakzai.

At least eight militants were killed and three injured in Ismail Zai, sources said, adding that two militant hideouts were destroyed in the attack.  Warplanes bombed militant positions in Mazid Ghari and Tor Kanary areas of the agency.

Sources said that in Upper Orakzai, fighter jets bombed the areas of Kot Killay and Kotak, killing six militants and injuring five others. Two militant hideouts were destroyed in the air raid.

On Saturday, Taliban militants fired eight rockets at the Lower Orakzai Agency headquarters of Kalaya. No casualties were reported as the rockets landed in open fields.

Sources said that bodies of at least 10 militants who were killed in clashes with security forces three days ago in the Dabori area of Upper Orakzai were rotting in the open. Late Saturday, another clash erupted between security forces and militants in Baqar Ghari and Mazari Ghari areas in Dabori belonging to the Ali Khel tribe. Ten militants were killed and five injured.

The military operation in the agency, which was launched on March 24, has displaced thousands of tribesmen who are living in camps in Hangu, Kohat and other areas.

Around 500 families belonging to the Ferozkhel and Sturikhel tribes have returned to lower parts of the agency but people are leaving Samaana and some other areas of upper Orakzai.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2010.