Pakistan's army
claimed on Saturday it had killed more than 30 militants in overnight aerial
strike in the restive Swat district of North-Western Frontier province,
reported dpa.
"Jet plans targeted a militant hideout in Matta sub-district on Friday
late afternoon," a military spokesman Major Murad Khan said.
More than 30 insurgents, including their local commander Mufti Saeedur Rehman,
were killed and over 40 were injured, he added.
A local security official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa late Friday that the
strikes followed an intelligence report that Maulana Fazlullah, who has lead
the Islamic insurgency in the region for the enforcement of Taliban rule since
last year, was present in the area with some important lieutenants.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 22 rebels were killed.
Muslim Khan, a spokesman for fugitive cleric Fazlullah, confirmed that
commander Rehman and another cadre died in the strike, but claimed that no others
militants perished.