Pak Army, tribesmen unleash on Taliban, kill 28 militants

Islamabad, June 17 : Army attack helicopters and artillery today pounded militant hideouts in South Waziristan ahead of a planned military offensive into the stronghold of top Taliban and al Qaeda commanders as 28 rebels were killed in fighting in Pakistan's restive northwest.

Though Pakistani Army has been bombarding the fringes of Waziristan district for the past week, the military gave no clue of the timing of its new offensive into the area which has long been a safe haven for Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and even al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.

The military statement giving out operational details of the fighting in adjacent Dir, Swat and Buner districts made no mention of the new operation.

The military bombardment of hideouts of thousands of Mehsud's fighters continued overnight as surveillance planes, including US Predator drones made swoops over the region, TV channels reported.

The channel reported that dozens of Taliban fighters had been killed in recent large scale air strikes in South Waziristan and Bajaur tribal regions. As the military strikes continued, there were reports tens of thousands of people were fleeing the region.

As the military prepared to strike the Taliban in their den, heavily armed frontier tribesmen continued to unleash their fury on the terrorists killing six militants. PTI