Pakistani security forces attacked a militant hideout near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing up to 20 militants, an army spokesman said. Pakistan is trying to clear its rugged, semi-autonomous border lands of militants, many of whom fled there after U.S. and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taliban's Kabul government in late 2001. The compound, attacked with artillery and helicopters, was near Dattakhel village, in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, said the spokesman, Major-General Shaukat Sultan. An attack was launched before dawn on Saturday and about 70 percent of the compound was destroyed, he said. "We believe we killed 15 to 20 miscreants," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
