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Pakistani troops kill 10 rebels linked to al-Qaeda

AP, AFP, Khar
Pakistani troops pounded militant hideouts in a tribal region near the Afghan border yesterday, killing at least 10 rebels with links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, officials said.
Meanwhile, Pakistani lawmakers again gathered in the capital, Islamabad, for the latest round of a private briefing on the militant threat facing the US-allied country.
That threat is strongest in the northwest, where al-Qaeda and Taliban militants have established bases from which to plan attacks on American and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.
The attacks took place in the Bajaur tribal district, where Pakistani security forces launched a major offensive against Islamic fighters in August.
"Troops fired artillery and mor-
tars onto hideouts of rebels in Loisam, Rashakai, Chinar and Babra areas, killing 10 militants and wounding eight others," a security official told AFP.
There was no way to independently verify the toll.
The official also said a curfew was imposed yesterday in Khar, the main town in Bajaur, as part of the ongoing military operation.
All shops and offices were closed, the roads were empty, and all residents were ordered to remain indoors.
The military launched its offensive in early August in the Bajur tribal region, which it has termed a "mega-sanctuary" for militants.
In other violence, militants fired rockets late Tuesday at a security post near Darra Adam Khel, another area of the northwest, killing two paramilitary troops and wounding three others, said Rashid Khan, a local
government official.
The troops responded with artillery fire, but it was unclear if there were any militant casualties.
The military said in late September that the fighting in Bajaur was some of the heaviest since Pakistan joined the US-led "war on terror."
It said more than 1,000 rebel fighters have been killed since it launched the offensive, including Al-Qaeda's operational commander in the region, Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri.
Pakistan's tribal regions have been wracked by violence since thousands of Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels fled to the country after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.
Violence linked to Pakistan's role in the "war on terror" has claimed the lives of more than 1,300 people in suicide and bomb attacks in the past year.