Pakistan's army destroyed suspected al-Qaeda hideouts in an air strike near the Afghan border today and killed several militants, including foreigners, the army said.
The raid in South Waziristan came days after the US intelligence chief said leaders of both al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's former ruling Taliban militia were finding shelter in Pakistan's lawless frontier areas.
An army statement said intelligence sources confirmed the presence of 25 to 30 foreign fighters and their local facilitators occupying five compounds in the area of Zamzola - a village about two miles from the frontier.
Pakistani forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked them, destroying three of the compounds. No security forces were hurt.
The site of the raid is close to North Waziristan where the government in September signed a controversial peace deal with tribal elders to halt military operations against militants.
In return, local militants promised they would not provide shelter to foreign militants, target Pakistani security forces or launch cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.
However, the government has not signed any such deal in South Waziristan, where the military has carried out scores of operations against al-Qaeda and their local supporters since the September 11th, 2001, attacks.
Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, has deployed about 80,000 troops in its tribal regions, mostly in North and South Waziristan, in an effort to flush out militants.
It still faces criticism from Afghan and Western officials that resurgent Taliban fighters are using its soil as a springboard for attacks inside Afghanistan.
AP