13 Taliban killed in clashes with militia near Afghanistan border
Several wounded as gun battles rage over the last two days
Parachinar: An anti-Taliban group killed 13 militants in clashes in north-western Pakistan near the Afghan border, a government official said yesterday.
Several members of the militia and insurgents were also wounded in the gunbattles yesterday and on Friday in the Kurram tribal region, said local administrator Noor Alam Khan.
Encouraged by Islamabad, tribesmen recently formed the militia to kill or evict Taliban militants and their supporters from the region. They have killed 25 insurgents in clashes this week.
The Pakistani military has also carried out attacks against the Taliban who are hiding in the area after escaping last year's offensive in the nearby Orakzai tribal region.
The Pakistani Taliban have links to the insurgent movement fighting foreign forces and their local allies in neighbouring Afghanistan, but separate goals. They are a sworn enemy of Pakistan and are focused on destabilising the country's US-allied government through violence.
