Report: US aircraft strike in Pakistan’s Khyber agency

US fighters and artillery batteries struck inside Pakistan’s Khyber tribal agency, according to reports from the region. Seven people were reported killed and three were wounded in the strikes.

The strikes occurred after Taliban fighters attacked Afghan forces along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Zee News reported. US forces targeted the Taliban force as they crossed the border into the Tirah Valley in Khyber agency.

The Tirah Valley is home to the Lashkar-i-Islam, an extremist group that is run by Mangal Bagh. The Lashkar-i-Islam has been battling for control of the valley with the rival Ansarul Islam.

Bagh claims he does not support Baitullah Mehsud’s Taliban, nor does he oppose the Pakistani state. But he has carved out a Taliban-like state in Khyber, despite a military operation last year that was designed to relieve pressure on neighboring Peshawar.

The US military has chased and attacked Taliban forces while in “hot pursuit” across the border in to Pakistan several times since 2001. The US and Pakistan have agreed to a set of rules for hot pursuit: US forces must be engaged with the Taliban or al Qaeda as they cross into Pakistan; US forces should not penetrate more than 6 miles into Pakistani territory; and US could enter Pakistan if they have identified the location of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri, or Mullah Omar. Pakistan has denied the agreement exists and the US military refused to comment.

The most controversial incident occurred in the tribal agency of Mohmand in June of 2008.

US forces killed 11 Taliban fighters after they attacked US and Afghan troops in Kunar province. The Taliban fighters fled into Mohmand, and US forces struck with artillery and aircraft.

Pakistan claimed the 11 men killed were members of the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary security force that is raised from the tribal areas. But members of the Frontier Corps often fight alongside the Taliban to attack US forces in Afghanistan.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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6 Comments

  • juscruzn says:

    GOOD WORK TROOPS KEEP KILLING HIRABI’S!!!

  • Marlin says:

    The MSM in Pakistan is just as biased as their counterparts in the U.S. Now we are targeting ‘pedestrians’ with our airstrikes.

    The Nato led fighter jets targeting a group of 40 pedestrians on Morga mountains in Teerah valley pounded them with a number of bombs, killing seven of them on the spot and injuring three others.

    Geo TV: Nato air strikes kill 7 in Khyber Agency

  • KnightHawk says:

    pedestrians – The new word for terrorists fleeing the scene.

  • Marlin says:

    At least the spokesman, Munsif Afridi, for the banned group, Amar Bil Maroof, is willing to confirm the casualties are terrorists associated with their group and not ‘pedestrians’.

    […] NATO jets targeted hideouts of the banned outfit in the Moga area near Torkham. Amar Bil Maroof spokesman Munsif Afridi confirmed that those who had died were members of his group.
    He said that 10 Afghan soldiers had been killed in a gunbattle with his group at the Torkham border earlier in the day.

    Daily Times: NATO jets kill 8 banned outfit members in Khyber

  • Rhyno327/lrs says:

    There should be a ramping up of Coalition air strikes on known insurgent positions, in P-stan. Since the P-stani’s cannot/willnot conduct airstrikes on known T-ban/AQ camps, compounds etc., we should. If they are getting pounded by air, they cannot conduct ops in A-stan. The P-stani’s have been given every oppurtunity to handle this business, and failed miserably. The use of airpower when it involves “hot pursuit” is essential to keep them running, make thier “safe havens” unsafe.

  • FG says:

    Rhyno here is a useful article for you and the rest as well.
    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5101828.ece

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