Khyber Agency: Four dead as jets pound militant hideouts

BARA:

Four suspected militants were killed and three others injured on Saturday when Pakistan Air Force fighter jets pounded their hideouts in the troubled Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency.

A security official said that around 11:00am two jet fighters targeted the stronghold of militants in Maidan, headquarters of the valley in which four militants were killed, three others injured and three of their important hideouts were destroyed.

The officials said that after the bombing the militants shifted the bodies along with the injured to an undisclosed location in the valley.

After the fall of the Tirah Valley into the hands of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Islam on March 19, by dislodging the pro-government militia Ansarul Islam, the security forces launched an operation on April 5.

However, the ground operation was halted after security forces suffered heavy casualties. The forces are now relying more on fighter jets and gunship helicopters to target militants and destroy their hideouts. Most of the Tirah Valley still remains under the control of militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2013.