Saturday, March 11 2006 12:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistani soldiers backed by helicopter gunships targeted a suspected militant hideout in Pakistan's volatile tribal region near the Afghan border and killed about 30 militants, an army spokesman said today(Mar 11,2006).

Gen. Shaukat Sultan said the attack was launched last night near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan and the scene of repeated clashes between security forces and bmilitants in the past week.

"We did that with full accuracy on authentic intelligence, and according to our information about 30 miscreants, who included foreigners, were killed," he told sources by phone.

He said the attackers blew up a huge cache of weapons which the militants had stored for use against security forces.

Sultan would not reveal the identity or nationalities of the slain men and only said the army was still investigating.

However, an intelligence official in the region said the targeted compound belonged to a pro-Taliban cleric, Maulvi Sadiq Noor, but it was not clear whether he was present at the time.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of his job.

Noor and some other pro-Taliban tribesmen have been the target of a hunt since earlier this week when their armed men captured government buildings following a military attack on an al-Qaida hideout near Miran Shah that killed dozens of people.