Pak jets pound Taliban hideouts, kill 26 militants

Ahead of an expected offensive, Pakistani jets pounded Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, while the Army in fresh operations killed 26 militants elsewhere in the restive northwest regions.

Ahead of an expected offensive, Pakistani jets pounded Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan, while the Army in fresh operations killed 26 militants elsewhere in the restive northwest regions.

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Fighter jets bombed Makeen, Ladha and Barwand regions of the South Waziristan hitting Taliban defences and military structures built by the militants, Army sources told local TV.

The attack came as Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters that the civilian government had given the go-ahead for the massive military campaign in South Waziristan leaving the timing of the operation to the armed forces.

The Pakistan government and the Army say that 80 per cent of the wave of militant attacks hitting the country are planned in South Waziristan, which has been encircled by troops and armour for the last three months in preparation for miliatry's biggest operation.

The campaign on the mountainous region appears imminent after a week long terror strikes by Taliban including the audacious attack on the Pakistan Army headquarters and carrying out a spate of suicide bombings.

Army helicopter gunships attacked for the second day in running bombing Taliban hideouts in the adjacent Bajaur region and killed 26 militants. Security forces had undertaken a major offensive in the area six-months ago and declared it free of Taliban, but some still seem to have surfaced.