25 killed in US drone, anti-terror operations in Pakistan

Twenty-five people, including twenty-one militants, were killed in Pakistan's restive northwest where a US drone targeted insurgent hideouts and the military stepped up ground attacks on militants in the region today.

Ten people, including six militants, were killed and several others injured in a US drone strike in the restive North Waziristan tribal region in northwest Pakistan.

Unmanned spy planes fired at least two missiles at a suspected militant hideout in Inzarkas village, located 50 km west of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency.

"Local residents pulled 10 bodies from the rubble and some more people are said to be injured," a source said.

Sources said six of those killed were militants while the rest were civilians.

At least two drones were seen flying over the area for several minutes after the strike, witnesses said.

The strike occurred in the vicinity of Datta Khel, considered a haven for Taliban and Al Qaida elements.

Datta Khel, located near the border with Afghanistan, is the hometown of militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur.

Security forces killed 15 militants in the restive Orakzai tribal region and the Swat valley in northwest Pakistan today, officials said.

“Troops backed by gunship helicopters carried out an action in Baigo Farm area of Orakzai Agency. Thirteen militants have been killed so far," said a spokesperson for the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

Security forces had cleared the lower parts of Orakzai Agency of militants and some of the over 200,000 people displaced by the fighting had started returning to their homes.

In a separate development, two militants were killed in a clash at Dewali area of Swat district, official sources said.

Troops were conducting a search operation in the area when militants began firing at them.

Two militants were killed when the security forces retaliated. The dead militants were wanted by law enforcement agencies in connection with several crimes.

Paramilitary troops moved into the Orakzai Agency in March to hunt Taliban rebels fleeing an earlier army operation in neighbouring South Waziristan Agency.

The Frontier Corps spokesman said over 600 militants and 18 troops had died in the fighting in Orakzai Agency but these figures cannot be confirmed independently as journalists have limited access to the mountainous region.