Pakistan troops kill 14 Taliban: official

Pakistani troops backed by gunship helicopters pounded suspected Taliban fighter hideouts near the Afghan border on Thursday, killing 14 people, officials said.

Troops attacked several houses, which the Islamist militants had used as bases to attack security forces on the outskirts of Khar, the main town in the Bajaur tribal region, security officials said. A local government official Farooq Khan confirmed the casualties.

"Security forces have seized control of Taliban-held areas after killing 14 militants," he told AFP. Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt has become a stronghold for hundreds of extremists who fled neighbouring Afghanistan after the US-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001. Pakistani government troops, backed by air assets, have been engaged in heavy operations in Bajaur in an attempt to rid the area of extremists under massive Western pressure to stop infiltrations into Afghanistan.

KHAR, Thursday, AFP