Pakistani army kills 22 Taliban near Afghan border

PARACHINAR: Pakistani troops repulsed a Taliban attack Sunday on an army base and bombed two militant hide-outs close to the Afghan border, killing 22 insurgents in a region where the army is pressing an offensive, a government official said.

The fighting occurred in Orakzai tribal region where many militants are believed to have fled from a major operation in their former stronghold of South Waziristan.

The official, Samiullah Khan, said a group of militants attacked the base with rockets and automatic weapons. Security forces retaliated and killed 10 attackers.

The military helicopter gun ships later bombed the hide-outs in nearby Chapri Ferozkhel area, killing another 12 of them, he added.

The government says more than 100 suspected militants and five soldiers have been killed in fighting in the region in the last week.

Officials have said the militants killed so far include Uzbek and Arab nationals.

The region has been the main base of the Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud.

A suspected US missile strike is believed to have killed him in another tribal region, North Waziristan, early this year. Taliban have denied that, though they failed to prove otherwise.