Pakistan wants more AH-1F helicopter gunships from US

October 6th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani Taliban Tuesday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at UN World Food programme (WFP) offices in Islamabad. The Monday afternoon attack, which killed five employees of the WFP, prompted immediate closure of all UN offices across the country "until further notice".

September 23rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Thousands of people have fled Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border, believing the recent surge in military strikes marks the launch of an expected offensive against the Taliban fighters. The exodus began when hundreds of troops, backed by dozens of tanks and helicopter gunships, started an action Tuesday against the fighters loyal to former Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who died in a US drone missile attack in early August.

September 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has reportedly killed 45 security personnel in Waziristan, while 34 extremists have been killed across the region in the last 24 hours. According to a television report, helicopter gunships pounded military hideouts in South Waziristan killing at least 26 Taliban fighters besides injuring many others.

September 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani security forces Saturday killed more than 60 militants in two districts of the country's troubled northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said. Paramilitary Frontier Corps troops aided by helicopter gunships destroyed the headquarters of the pro-Taliban fighters in the Khyber tribal district and destroyed seven vehicles, according to a statement.

September 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani security forces Saturday killed at least 55 militants in two districts of the country's troubled northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said. Paramilitary Frontier Corps troops aided by helicopter gunships destroyed the headquarters of the pro-Taliban fighters in Khyber tribal district and destroyed seven vehicles, a statement said.

August 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistani security forces pounded militant hideouts in the restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan Thursday, killing at least 10 militants, officials said. Army helicopter gunships from struck several positions held by Islamist militants in the Kurram and Orakzai districts, which are relatively peaceful compared to the remaining five tribal areas.

July 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Twenty-six Pakistani soldiers were killed when a helicopter in which they were travelling crashed in the Orakzai tribal agency close to the Afghan border, a media report said Saturday. The MI-17 helicopter crashed Friday due to a technical problem, the Online news agency said citing army officials.

July 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Taliban Friday claimed to have shot down a Pakistan Army helicopter in the country's lawless tribal region, a media report said. A spokesman for the Islamic militants told Sama television that the Taliban had also captured the pilot of the helicopter gunship.

June 21st, 2009 PESHAWAR - At least 22 Taliban insurgents and other extremists have reportedly been killed, as the Pakistan Army intensified its operation against the Baitullah Mehsud-led Taliban in South Waziristan. According to sources, the security forces are engaged in a gruesome battle in the region, and are also being assisted by Pakistan Air Force fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

June 9th, 2009 Pakistani army backs up citizens fighting TalibanISLAMABAD — Pakistan's military has dispatched helicopter gunships to the volatile northwest in support of thousands of angry tribesmen who have laid siege to a group of Taliban fighters, police said Tuesday. The citizens' militia sprang up over the weekend to avenge a deadly suicide bombing at a mosque in Upper Dir district and appeared unwilling to stop pursuing the Islamist fighters, underscoring the rising anti-Taliban sentiment in much of Pakistan.

June 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Amidst world wide fears that the Taliban would take over Pakistan, and are within the striking distance from Islamabad, Pakistani analysts believe that their country would never fall into the extremists' hands. Experts said that the paranoia about Pakistan's collapse was created by the United States, which has lost its objectivity in carrying on its 'war against terror' in the region.

May 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - A mayor in Pakistan's northwestern Lower Dir district threatened to rise against the military troops if the 'indiscriminate firing and bombardment that mainly kills the civilians' was not stopped. 'This operation is only killing the civilians.

April 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least twenty militants were reportedly killed in an offensive launched by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the Orakzai region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan military officials have claimed. According to the Dawn, PAF jets and helicopter gunships launched an attack targeting a close aide of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, Hakimullah Mehsud, who had claimed the responsibility for a suicide car-bomb attack on a security convoy in which 25 security personnel were killed near Kohat town of the agency.

February 2nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Up to 40 Islamic militants were killed in overnight clashes between the rebels and government forces in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, an official said Tuesday. 'Artillery and helicopter gunships targeted several locations of insurgents in Khwazakhela subdistrict,' said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

December 22nd, 2008 ISLAMABAD - Security forces battling an Islamist insurgency in Pakistan's troubled northwest killed 25 militants and lost two soldiers in fierce clashes that also left six civilians dead, media reports said Tuesday. Fifteen pro-Taliban rebels were killed and several others injured when troops backed by helicopter gunships launched an assault in Swat district Monday, the English-language daily The News reported.