Pakistan air strike kills six militants

Pakistani fighter jets on Tuesday killed at least six militants and destroyed hideouts in a restive northwestern tribal district, local officials said. The air strike took place in the Mamozai area of Orakzai, a known militant stronghold where rebels sought refuge from a military operation in the tribal district of South Waziristan. "At least six militants were killed and 12 others were wounded in an air strike by the Pakistan air force," local government official Javed Khan told AFP. "Four militant hideouts were destroyed in the bombing," he added. Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Pakistan to take decisive steps to defeat Al-Qaeda, becoming the most senior US official to visit since Osama bin Laden was found and killed in the country on May 2. Khan said there were reports that a Pakistani Taliban commander Tariq, who uses one name and was leading militants in Darra Adam Khel tribal area between the cities of Peshawar and Kohat, could also be among the dead. "We have received reports that Tariq might have been killed in today's air strike, but we cannot confirm it immediately," Khan said. Darra Adam Khel is known for its weapons bazaar and illegal arms factories. Local intelligence officials confirmed the air strike and death toll. Under US pressure to crack down on Islamist havens on the Afghan border, Pakistan has in the last two years stepped up operations against homegrown militants in the tribal belt, dubbed a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda. But US officials are now also increasing pressure on Pakistan to mount a major offensive in the district of North Waziristan, considered the premier fortress of Taliban and Al-Qaeda for launching attacks in Afghanistan. Pakistan has always maintained that any such operation would be of its own time and choosing, arguing that its 140,000 troops committed to the northwest are already too overstretched fighting militants posing a domestic threat. More than 4,410 people have been killed across Pakistan in attacks blamed on Taliban and other Islamist extremist networks based in the tribal belt since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in 2007.