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Pakistani jets target Taliban positions, kill 19 | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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KALAYA, Pakistan, (Reuters) – Pakistani warplanes bombed Taliban positions in the northwest on Sunday, killing at least 19 militants, a government official said.

Government forces have stepped up offensives in the Orakzai and Khyber regions on the Afghan border to root out militants waging a campaign to topple the U.S.-backed government of President Asif Ali Zardari.

The military says several hundred Taliban fighters have been killed in the operations but there has been no independent confirmation of that. The Taliban usually dismiss the army’s death toll figures.

The latest air strikes in the Okakzai region were carried out in several remote villages after intelligence showed that militants there had been planning attacks, the government official, Asghar Khan, told Reuters.