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Pakistani soldiers patrol near a check post along the road leading from South Waziristan to Dera Ismail Khan - Source: Reuters -
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Pakistani security forces backed by tanks and artillery attacked
Taliban positions in the northwest of the country, killing 22
militants, a senior police official.
The attack was part of a broader campaign against militants in
Pakistan, a regional ally which Washington sees as key to defeating
the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Fighting erupted on Sunday night after an assault on militants in
the village of Shahukhel, which borders the Taliban stronghold of
Orakzai tribal region.
"There has been fierce fighting throughout the night. Militants
fired rocket propelled grenades while troops responded with
artillery and tank fire," local police official Fareed Khattak
said.
"We have a figure of 22 militants dead and 14 arrested."
Pakistan's army went on the offensive in the ethnic Pashtun tribal
region of South Waziristan on the Afghan border on October 17,
aiming to root out militants who stepped up their war against the
security forces in 2007.
The campaign could backfire if Taliban fighters gain an edge by
sucking Pakistani troops deep into rugged mountains in the
area.
The United States, weighing options for how to stem an intensifying
insurgency in Afghanistan, has welcomed the Waziristan offensive,
hoping it will help root out fighters from the region described as
a global hub for militants.
But Washington is keen to see Pakistan also tackle Afghan Taliban
factions based in lawless enclaves along the border.
Khattak said forces had entered the lawless Orakzai region where
many Taliban insurgents had fled.
"Now helicopter gunships are striking Taliban hideouts in the
agency," he said.
A Taliban spokesman in Orakzai, Zia-ur-Rehman, said both sides
suffered heavy casualties in the clashes.
According to the military, more than 500 Taliban have been killed
in the South Waziristan assault while 70 soldiers have been
killed.
There has been no independent verification of casualties as
reporters and other independent observers are not allowed into the
conflict zone except on an occasional trip with the military.
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