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Warplanes, troops kill 40 militants in Bajaur, Swat

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Nov 21, IRNA
Pakistan-Bajaur
Security forces killed 40 militants on Thursday as artillery and jet fighters backed ground troops fighting in the Bajaur, and an air strike hit militants in Swat, officials said.

The latest clashes erupted in parts of Mamond and Nawagai districts of Bajaur overnight.

"Twenty-four militants, including 11 foreign fighters, probably Uzbeks, and a local commander have been killed in exchanges of fire with security forces in the last 24 hours," a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps said.

A suicide blast in Mamond on Thursday evening killed at least nine people, including the leader of an anti-militant tribal 'lashkar' or force, an administration official, Mohammad Jameel, said.

Al Qaeda-linked militants have targeted tribesmen who have banded together in some areas, with the encouragement of the government, and have taken action against insurgents whom they blame for bringing violence to their areas.

Troops are also battling militants in Swat, and there is widespread expectation the next offensive will target the Mohmand tribal region.

Sixteen militants were killed in an airstrike on a school building used by militants in Swat's Matta town on Thursday, a military official said.

But there were civilian casualties elsewhere.

Seven women and a man were killed when artillery fire hit two houses in Khawazakhela district of Swat, police said.

Nato's spokesman in Kabul, Brigadier General Richard Blanchette, said coordination with Pakistan has been improving and the Pakistani military was routinely helping Nato forces direct fire in retaliation when they come under attack from insurgents in Pakistan.

"Operation Lionheart" was aimed at coordinating operations with Pakistani forces and creating "cut-off positions" to bottle up the insurgents and attack them, Blanchette said.

"Basically, stop their movement and bring better chances of locating them and using kinetic force, Blanchette said, while declining to give details on an ongoing operation.

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