Pak Army kills 22 Taliban militants in Orakzai

Parachinar, Mar. 29 (ANI): The Pakistani Army reportedly killed 22 Taliban insurgents near the Afghanistan border on Sunday after a group of militants attacked an army base with rockets and utomatic weapons.

The Dawn quoted Samiullah Khan, a Pakistani government official, as saying that the fighting occurred in the Orakzai tribal region where the army is on the offensive.

He added that security forces first killed 10 militants in a retaliatory attack and the military helicopter gun ship later bombed hideouts in the Chapri Ferozkhel area, killing another 12.

According to Pakistani officials, over 100 suspected militants and five soldiers have been killed in fighting in the region this week.

Militants killed in the attacks include Uzbek and Arab nationals.

The region has been the main base of the Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud.

A suspected US missile strike is believed to have killed him in North Waziristan earlier this year. (ANI)