Pakistani Government to Unveil Anti-Terror Strategy
By VOA News
12 October 2008
Pakistani government officials are expected to share their comprehensive anti-terror strategy with lawmakers Monday.
Legislators were briefed by military and intelligence officials last week in order to develop a plan to combat militants. The results of the special session likely will be debated in parliament today.
Pakistan has been hit by a number of attacks in recent weeks, including a suicide bombing at an Islamabad hotel that killed 55 people last month.
Pro-Taliban leaders have said the attacks are in retaliation for the military's offensive against militants in the country's northwestern tribal regions. The military says at least a thousand militants were killed in the Bajaur area last month, and officials say some 20 militants were killed in fresh clashes on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, Pakistani security officials said military aircraft bombed the hideout of suspected militants in the Orakzai tribal area, killing at least 27 fighters.
The officials say two Taliban commanders and 12 potential suicide bombers were among those killed.
In Orakzai on Friday, a suicide bomber killed at least 40 anti-Taliban tribesmen who had gathered for a council meeting.
The Pakistani government is under pressure from neighboring Afghanistan and the United States to take on Taliban and al-Qaida militants taking refuge along the Afghan border. Authorities say the militants use Pakistan to attack soldiers in Afghanistan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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