18 militants killed in Khyber to ease flow of Western supplies
Extremists have been trying to choke off route to Afghanistan
Landikotal: Pakistani soldiers killed 18 militants Tuesday in a campaign to break a network orchestrating attacks on Western forces' supplies to Afghanistan and carrying out bombings, a security official said.
Any heavy casualties inflicted on militants in the Khyber region could ease concerns in Washington, which wants Pakistan to root out fighters along the border, seen as a global hub for militants, to help it defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Militants have been trying to choke off the supplies with attacks, forcing the United States and other countries with forces in landlocked Afghanistan to look for alternative routes.
"We have secured one of their strongholds and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition. In the fighting, 18 militants were killed while six were arrested," said Frontier Corps paramilitary force spokesman Major Fazal-ur-Rehman said.
Political tensions in Pakistan could distract the government from its crackdown against militants behind recent bomb attacks that have killed hundreds.
Pakistan's government published on Saturday a list of people, including four Cabinet ministers, who could face prosecution on corruption charges after a controversial amnesty lapses this week.
