Helicopter gunships and artillery on Tuesday bombarded two militant hide-outs that had been used to launch attacks on security forces in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border, the Pakistani army said. Spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said forces targeted a pair of compounds in Daygan, a village about 15 kilometers (10 miles) west of North Waziristan's main town of Miran Shah after receiving «credible intelligence that militants were present there.» It appeared to be the army's toughest military action in the lawless border region after a month of escalating violence, the Associated Press reported. Cobra helicopter gunships and artillery launched the attack about 5 a.m. (0000 GMT) and it lasted about four hours, Arshad said. No ground forces were used in the assault, and there was no immediate word on militant casualties. «The militants used to regroup and prepare attacks on security forces and take refuge at these compounds, so security forces targeted them,» Arshad told Dawn television, calling the compounds a «staging post.»
