Twelve Taliban killed in Pakistan
June 27, 2009

At least 12 militants have been killed and more than a dozen wounded in Pakistani military attacks on the suspected bases of feared Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, officials say.

"Two Pakistani fighter jets pounded Taliban militant hideouts in Makeen and Laddha, killing 10 Taliban and injuring 15 others," local tribal police official Syed Akbar Khan told AFP on Saturday.

Makeen and Laddah are the main South Waziristan strongholds of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud, who is blamed for a number of suicide attacks and bomb blasts in Pakistan.

The tolls could not be verified independently as the areas are out of bounds to journalists because of the ongoing military operation and presence of Taliban militants.

In a separate incident militants early Saturday fired six rockets at a security camp and a paramilitary fort in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, a government official said.

The security forces in retaliation shelled the Taliban militants, killing two and injuring three others.

"Two Taliban were killed and three others injured when security forces fired artillery shells on militant hideouts," local government official Allah Bagh Khan told AFP.

South Waziristan is Mehsud's stronghold, and the US - which has been a vocal supporter of Islamabad's anti-Taliban push - alleges that al-Qaeda fighters are in the region plotting attacks on Western targets.

Security forces say they are wrapping up an eight-week campaign against Islamist militants in the northwest Swat valley and have opened up a second front against Taliban chief Mehsud and his network along the Afghan border.

© 2009 AFP