By DPA,
Islamabad : Pakistan army said Wednesday it had killed at least 20 Taliban militants in the lawless tribal region along the Afghan border.
Helicopter gunships and artillery pounded several positions of rebels in Bajaur district, where the military and paramilitary troops are carrying out a major offensive against Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters since early August.
“Eight among the killed were foreigners,” army spokesman Major Murad Khan told DPA.
The term “foreigner” is mostly used to refer to Al Qaeda linked militants of Arab and Central Asian origin.
Fierce clashes over the last two months have killed at least 1,000 rebels and more than two dozen troops, besides causing unknown number of civilian casualties.
More than 250,000 people have fled the fighting to safe places inside Pakistan and over 20,000 to the Afghan province of Kunar.