Pakistan army says 1,000 militants killed in NW fight

TANG KHATTA, Pakistan-Pakistani forces have killed up to 1,000 Islamist militants in fighting in the strategically important northwestern region of Bajaur this month, an army commander said Friday.Government forces launched an offensive in Bajaur in August and have been involved in heavy fighting since then.Bajaur is one of Pakistan's seven so-called tribal agencies, semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun regions along the Afghan border.It is an important hub for militants, providing access to surrounding Pakistani regions as well as the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, said Major-General Tariq Khan.U.S. officials say Taliban and al Qaeda-linked fighters use the tribal regions as an operating base to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, where Western forces are struggling to stem a growing insurgency."This is one area that if you are controlling can create a much greater effect on the entire region," Khan told a group of reporters on a visit organized by the army.Khan estimated 65 percent of the militant problem would be eliminated if they were defeated in Bajaur."If they lose here, they've lost almost everything."

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