Air strikes kill 39 Taliban militants in Orakzai tribal region

Reports said 14 militant camps were destroyed during the air strikes in Chapri Ferozekhel and Ghiljo areas of Orakzai Agency yesterday. At least 39 militants were killed in the air strikes, the Dawn newspaper reported Friday.

Muhammad, a spokesman for Taliban commander Tariq Afridi, said 18 militants were killed in the air attack in Ferozekhel. A senior commander was among the militants killed, he added.
Militants affiliated with Afridi and Hakimullah Mehsud, a close aide of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud, had occupied several homes of Sikhs in Orakzai Agency after they fled the troubled region.

The Sikhs left Orakzai Agency after they failed to pay "jiziya" or a tax on non-Muslims that was levied by the Taliban.

Three homes of Sikhs, which the militants had turned into their centres, were targeted by the warplanes. A woman and her child were also killed in the bombardment, media reports said.