MIRAMSHAH, Aug 7: A tribesman and two children were injured and several houses damaged when security forces, backed up by Cobra helicopters, attacked suspected hideouts of militants in the Degan area of the North Waziristan Agency on Tuesday, official and hospital sources said.

The attack came after a soldier was killed when an improvised explosive device went off near a spring close to the Banda checkpoint. The soldiers had gone to fetch water from the spring.

(According to Reuters news agency, 10 militants were killed in attacks on two hideouts of militants.

The pre-dawn offensive in Degan area destroyed the fortress-like compounds used by pro-Taliban militants, the agency quoted Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad as saying.

“Local sources have told us that at least 10 local militants have been killed and seven wounded,” Gen Arshad said.

An intelligence official in Miramshah said they had reports that 27 militants had been killed.)

Local people said that eight helicopter gunships were pressed into service for the first time during the operation, which targeted houses in the Degan area. Intense firing and bombings by helicopters and artillery fire rocked the area, forcing residents to move to safer places.

A five-year-old boy, a seven-year-old girl and the tribesman wounded in the attack were taken to the agency headquarters hospital in Miramshah.

Residents said the helicopters had taken off from a base in Miramshah at about 6am. The air strikes continued for more than half an hour.

When helicopters returned to the base, security forces started artillery fire from their headquarters in Miramshah.

Independent sources said that 10 houses were damaged and some cattle were killed in the attack. They said that some 50 families had shifted to Miramshah.

Security officials said that militant hideouts situated on the Miramshah-Datakhel Road in Degan area were targeted. But locals denied army’s claims, saying that heavy shelling had damaged civilian houses.

Security forces also struck suspected locations in Palangzai, Tapi, Banda and Anzer villages in Miramshah tehsil. Meanwhile, low-ranking government employees (Muharrars) have stopped performing their duties at various checkpoints in the agency owing to threats by militants.

The sources said the militants had warned the Muharrars against working for security forces. These employees abandoned their work in Ghulam Khan, Dirdoni and Esha checkpoints.

Meanwhile, Lt-Gen Muhammad Masood Aslam, who is commanding troops in the region, visited the troubled North Waziristan Agency. He was briefed on operational matters.