Pakistan Strikes Al Qaeda Hideouts Near Afghan Border!

25-30 suspected Al Qaeda terrorists were killed in the air strike.

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The AP released this minutes ago:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's army destroyed three suspected al-Qaida hideouts in an air strike near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing several members of the terror group, an army spokesman said.

The military carried out the operation in South Waziristan tribal region after receiving information that 25 to 30 al-Qaida members were hiding there, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.

"We believe most of them were killed, but we don't have a body count," he said.

Sultan said some terror group members at the sites were foreigners, but "no high-value target was believed to be there."

Reuters said that a US drone plane may have been used in spotting the terror camp in the forest:

Sultan said there was a precision air strike, and helicopter gunships mopped up. No ground troops were used. A military statement later said three out of a cluster of five mud-walled compounds housing the militants were destroyed.

Earler on Monday, the Daily Times reported that Pakistan rejected statements made by John Negroponte, director of US intelligence, that Al Qaeda was regrouping from a secure hideout in Pakistan, and warned against any pre-emptive strike.

In related news, Afghan officials reported that they arrested a leading Taliban spokesman at the Pakistan-Afghan border on Monday.