Officials say Pakistan army offense, US missile strikes kill 25 militants in northwest

Officials: 25 militants killed in NW Pakistan

MIR ALI, Pakistan — Pakistani troops killed 20 suspected Taliban insurgents Saturday in a northwestern region near Afghanistan while missile strikes believed launched from U.S. drones killed an additional five militants in another tribal area, officials said.

Also Saturday, a suicide attack on a prison van in the region wounded at least 10 policemen.

Pakistani troops raided a militant ammunition depot in the Sangra village of Orakzai, in the lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, killing 10 alleged insurgents, local administrator Jehanzeb Khan said. One soldier also was wounded in the clash. Airstrikes later destroyed three more hide-outs, killing another 10 suspects, Khan said.

The suspected U.S. missiles struck a militants’ hideout in the Machi Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region, also near the border with Afghanistan, according to two intelligence officials. Five militants were killed in those strikes, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

That tribal region is dominated by Taliban militants from the Haqqani network, which launches attacks against American and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan. Washington wants Islamabad to take action against these groups. Pakistan says it has its hands full with military engagements in other tribal regions, including the Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan.

A suicide attack on a prison van wounded at least 10 policemen in town of Timergarah in the Lower Dir district. A car bomber targeted the van as it arrived at a jail to pick up prisoners to take to nearby Swat Valley, senior police official Shakeel Khan said. No prisoners were in the van at the time.

Two of the victims were in critical condition and were shifted to the main northwest city of Peshawar, the police official said.

The Lower Dir district was a militant stronghold until spring 2009 when a military offensive there and in Swat reclaimed the areas from insurgents. Sporadic violence still occurs.

Pakistan followed that offensive with one in the South Waziristan tribal region, the main stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. Many militants there have since fled to other areas such as Orakzai.