At least 58 people, including militants and civilians, were killed in fierce clashes and artillery and air attacks by security forces on suspected militant positions in the troubled Aurakzai tribal region in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, sources said.
One of the two abducted Sikhs rescued during an army operation in Pakistan's Taliban-infested tribal belt was injured in a shootout between security forces and militants, according to the Pakistan military.
Two Sikhs, abducted by Taliban, have been rescued by security forces in the restive Khyber tribal region in northwest Pakistan, a week after two members of the community were beheaded by the militants, a military spokesman said on Monday.The two abducted Sikhs--Surjeet Singh and Gurvinder Singh--are safe, a spokesman said.
Rejecting the news that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud died in Punjab en route to Karachi for treatment, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) says that Hakimullah never left the tribal belt either for shelter or for medication.
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has died due to injuries sustained in a United States' drone attack, the state-run television reported on Sunday, though the government said there was 'no verifiable information' about his death. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief had died in the home of his father-in-law due to wounds sustained in a drone strike earlier this month, PTV quoted local sources in Aurakzai tribal region as saying.
As the fate of Hindu and Sikh hostages held by Taliban remained unknown, a concerned All Pakistan Minorities Alliance has convened a meeting on February 28 to frame a strategy to protect their members.
Two Sikhs who were kidnapped for ransom were found beheaded by the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan's restive tribal belt in yet another brutal act by the militants.
The Pakistani Taliban confirmed on Tuesday, that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in a US drone strike, ending weeks of speculation over his fate.Taliban sources based in the Aurakzai tribal region told TV news channels that 28-year-old Mehsud was severely injured in a drone attack in Shaktoi area of North Waziristan Agency on January 14.
B Raman on the situation in Pakistan after the death of Baitullah.
The drone fired two missiles at Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's base at Khadezai village in a remote mountainous area of Aurakzai tribal agency, witnesses said. Local residents and witnesses told TV channels that at least 12 militants were killed and more than 15 others injured in the strike.
Pakistan's Secretary Defence Production, General (retd) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, briefed a five-member visiting US defence delegation about the arms deal on Thursday.
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