Our Friend and Ally acts like our friend and ally for a change. “Pak destroys Al-Qaida hubs near Afghan border,” from the Times of India, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army destroyed three suspected Al-Qaida hideouts in an air strike near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing several militants including foreigners.
Military forces carried out the operation with the backing of helicopter gunships in the South Waziristan tribal region after receiving information that 25 to 30 Al-Qaida members were hiding there, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, said.
“We believe most of them were killed, but we don’t have a body count,”‘ he said.
Some terror group members at the sites were foreigners, but “no high-value target was believed to be there,” he said.
The destroyed Al-Qaida hideouts were in an isolated area near the village of Zamzola, which is close to North Waziristan where the government in September signed a controversial peace deal with tribal elders to halt military operations against militants.
In return, local militants and tribal elders at the time promised to not provide shelter to any foreign militants, nor target Pakistani security forces and pro-government elders. However, the government has not signed any such deal in South Waziristan, where the military has carried out scores of operations against Al-Qaida and their local supporters since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.