At least 39 militants were killed in operations by Pakistani security forces in the troubled Bajaur and Khyber tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday. Air and ground strikes carried out by security forces killed at least 35 militants in different parts of Bajaur Agency, officials of the Frontier Constabulary said, adding the dead included some important militant commanders. Jet fighters targetted militant hideouts in the Taliban strongholds of Loisam and Charmang areas in Bajaur. A suspected hideout of local Taliban commander Maulvi Omar in Badan was bombed, killing eight of his associates. Ground forces had been pounding militant positions with artillery and mortars since Wednesday night.In Pakistan’s northwest, suspected US missiles struck a madarsa — belonging to a pro-Taliban cleric — in and killed eight people on Thursday, intelligence officials said. The strike happened hours after Parliament warned against “incursions” on Pakistani soil in a resolution that also called for reviewing the national security strategy and making dialogue with certain militants.
