Following Pakistani military attacks Sunday that killed at least 60 “suspected militants,” largely in air strikes against suspected militant hideouts, the Pakistani military is claiming today that they have killed another 60 Taliban in further fighting and air strikes in Orakzai.
Unlike the Sunday attacks, which were just Pakistani military strikes on buildings, today’s fighting was mostly open combat, when some 200 Taliban attacked a military checkpoint in Dabori.
What resulted was a three hour gunbattle which officials say left at least 60 Taliban dead, and 70 wounded. In addition, four members of Pakistan’s military were killed, and 20 others were wounded.
Pakistan’s military launched its Orakzai invasion in March, and has claimed to have killed over 800 militants since then, though there has been no independent verification of those figures. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have also been driven from their homes.
60 Taliban killed? – really? Or, were 60 Afghans killed and like the 'body counts' in Vietnam – EVERYONE killed was Viet Cong.