The Pakistani Army and Air Force hit the Taliban again in a region considered an extremist stronghold in the northwest.

Pakistani fighter-bombers hit Taliban positions in the Arakzai tribal agency in a region bordering Khyber. Eleven Islamic extremists, most of whom were described as "foreigners," a term used to describe al Qaeda operatives, were killed in the attack and seven more were reported wounded.

The airstrike in Arakzai is the second there this week. On Nov. 17, Pakistani strike aircraft, Army attack helicopters, and artillery batteries struck enemy hideouts and supply depots in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency. Thirty Taliban fighters were reported killed. The military also pounded 11 Taliban camps in Arakzai in September.

Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, an alliance of several Taliban groups operating in the northwest, commanded Taliban forces in Arakzai before taking control of the group in August. Hakeemullah declared sharia, or Islamic law, in Arakzai in December 2008. Now Taliban fighters fleeing the operation in South Waziristan are regrouping in Arakzai as well as in Khyber and North and South Waziristan.

Arakzai hosts several Taliban extremist groups, including the Fedayeen-e-Islam, the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, the Commander Tariq Group, the Ghazi Force, the Omar Group, and the Abdullah Azzam Brigade. These groups have taken credit for suicide bombings and armed attacks in Islamabad, Peshawar, and Lahore.

The military and the Taliban have also clashed in neighboring tribal agencies and settled districts over the past day. In Hangu, seven Taliban fighters and a commander were captured after they ambushed a military convoy. The ambush took place in a region bordering the North Waziristan and Kurram tribal agencies; this region has been a known transit area and safe haven for Taliban forces. Just weeks ago, the military destroyed a section of road there in an attempt to disrupt Taliban movement in the area.

In the Bara region in Khyber, the Army claimed to have killed eight Taliban fighters in artillery strikes after the Taliban killed a Frontier Corps official in a roadside bombing attack in the region. Seven suspected Taliban fighters were also detained in follow-up raids. The Taliban also bombed a school in Bara in Khyber; it was the fourth school in Bara to be destroyed this week.

In South Waziristan, 14 Taliban fighters and six soldiers have been killed over the past 24 hours as the military continues its advance through the Taliban heartland. The military recently claimed to have ejected the Taliban from the major towns and villages and said the remaining fighters are in the mountains and forests of the region.

The military has claimed that more than 550 Taliban fighters and 76 soldiers have been killed since the operation commenced on Oct. 17. More than 10,000 Taliban fighters backed by an estimated 1,500 hard core al Qaeda and Central Asian fighters were thought to be in the region. The Taliban now claim that they have conducted a tactical retreat and will wage an insurgency as the winter snows settle into the area.