and five children suffered injuries when a mortar shell fell on a house in the Orakzai Agency.
Security officials said fighter jets hit sanctuaries of the militants in Ibrahimo, Basho Patai, Bego Tangi, Drand Sheikhan, Kasha, Lala Sar, etc in central parts of the Orakzai tribal region. They said ground forces also took part in the action and targeted the hideouts of militants by using tanks and artillery.
Pleading anonymity, security officials said 11 militants were killed and several others suffered injuries in the offensive.According to sources, three major hideouts of militants were destroyed in the air strikes and artillery shelling. There was, however, no way to independently verify the account. The identity of the slain militants also couldn’t be ascertained.
Security forces launched the latest offensive in the Orakzai Agency after the recent attack by the militants on a military convoy in which four soldiers were killed.The Islamic State (IS) spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, had claimed responsibility for the attack and said it marked the launch of their operations in the Khurasan region, comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.
Our correspondent adds from Bara: Five militants were killed and three others sustained injuries when two groups clashed near the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Agency, sources said on Monday.
The sources said that two banned militant organisations, Lahkar-e-Islam (LI) and Amr bil Maroof wa Nahi Anil Munkar (Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), clashed in a remote mountainous area of Jabbar Mela near the Pak-Afghan border.
The sources said the militants of two groups took positions in their bunkers and opened fire on each other.As a result, three militants of Lashkar-i-Islam, including an important commander Shahmat Khan, were killed on the spot and their two associates sustained injuries.
The sources said two commanders of Amr bil Maroof wa Nahi Anil Munkar, identified as Zari Jan and Ibrahim, were also killed while another was injured. The names of the injured militants could not be ascertained.