Over 20 militants killed in Pakistani army air raids
Pakistani fighter jets have pounded militant positions in the country’s rugged northwestern tribal region close to the border with Afghanistan, killing more than 20 militants.
According to a statement released by the Army on Wednesday, the airstrikes were carried out the night before in the militant-riddled North Waziristan region.
The statement added that at least 22 militants were killed during the aerial bombardment.
Sources say Pakistan Air Force jets destroyed militants’ hideouts and ammunition depots across the troubled area.
The latest aerial attacks came weeks after the military said it had cleared most of the region of militants.
The Pakistani army started an operation against militant hideouts in North Waziristan last June, after a deadly raid on the Karachi International Airport ended the government’s faltering peace talks with the pro-Taliban militants.
The military says it has killed more than 1,200 militants since launching the June 15, 2014 operation.
The semi-autonomous tribal regions on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan have been a hideout for Takfiri militant groups, including al-Qaeda and the pro-Taliban militants, during the past years. The militants use the mountainous border area to launch attacks in both countries.
Pakistan intensified its anti-terror campaign following a December 16, 2014 attack on an army-run school in the city of Peshawar, which claimed the lives of about 150 people.
Violence has been increasing in Pakistan's northwest tribal belt following the 2001 US-led invasion of neighboring Afghanistan.
Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Pakistan entered an alliance with the US in the so-called war on terror. Thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping across the country.
JR/HMV/SS
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