Pakistani F-16(CNN) -- An airstrike by Pakistani fighter jets killed more than 30 Taliban fighters, including an alleged high-ranking Taliban commander, a government spokesman said Saturday.
The military called in the fighter jets Friday to support Pakistani army ground troops in the violence-plagued northwest after they were caught in a clash with Taliban fighters, the spokesman said.
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said Saturday that coalition airstrikes had killed several militants in an Afghan province north of the capital, Kabul.
It happened Friday in Kapisa province, when coalition forces tried to search a compound for a Taliban commander suspected of smuggling weapons into Afghanistan and of conducting attacks on coalition and NATO forces with improvised explosive devices, the coalition said.
Coalition forces came under heavy fire from AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades and told the militants to come out peacefully.
"Several women and children exited the compound and were moved to a safe area at which time coalition forces again came under AK-47 and RPG fire," a coalition statement said. "Coalition forces responded with precision airstrikes, killing several militants."
My Comment: U.S. military aid to Pakistan is now finally being used. This is also testament to how dangerous the Taliban have become in fighting Pakistani forces. The fact that the Pakistan Airforce must now be used to support Pakistani soldiers means that the Taliban are a force to be reckoned with in the Tribal regions.