THE MESSIER THE BETTER:

Pakistan Forces Destroy Militant Hideout (BASHIRULLAH KHAN, 8/07/07, AP)

Helicopter gunships and artillery on Tuesday bombarded two militant hideouts that had been used to launch attacks on security forces in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border, the Pakistani army said.

Spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said forces targeted a pair of compounds in Daygan, a village about 10 miles west of North Waziristan's main town of Miran Shah after receiving "credible intelligence that militants were present there."

It appeared to be the army's toughest military action in the lawless border region after a month of escalating violence, and came a day after foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said al-Qaida and the Taliban had no safe havens in the tribal zone.