Pakistani air raids kill five near Afghan border (Roundup)

Jul 5, 2009, 11:46 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistani warplanes attacked suspected Taliban positions in the restive north-western region near Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least five people, an intelligence official said.

The strikes came in two villages of the North Waziristan tribal district, one of the seven lawless territories in the north-west which are littered with Taliban hideouts.

'Five people were killed when jet fighters bombed the Mohmandkhel and Baegan villages,' the intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. Around a dozen more were also wounded in the attacks that destroyed several houses.

The identities of the dead were not immediately clear. However, residents claimed all were local tribesman.

Pakistan's armed forces have been carrying out aerial raids in the region for the past several weeks to soften up militant targets before launching 'a decisive operation' against Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud and his network in South Waziristan district.

Mehsud is believed to be behind a string of attacks that have taken place in the country since 2007, including the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The United States has offered a five-million-dollar reward for information leading to the arrest or death of the feared warlord, who is described as 'a key facilitator of al-Qaeda.'

Militants have recently stepped up violence in the tribal region as the military announced that it was close to concluding its offensive in the former tourist valley of Swat and its adjoining districts, with immediate plans to go after Mehsud.

More than 1,600 militants have been killed in the Swat onslaught which began as a response to a spring-time offensive in which Taliban fighters overran the Buner district, located just 100 kilometres from the capital city, Islamabad.

The army claimed to have cleared vast swathes of the scenic mountain region, but some pockets of resistance still exist, causing sporadic clashes.

Three soldiers were killed and four more were injured in a gunfight with the Taliban militants near Swat's Bari Kot area at the weekend, a military statement said on Sunday.