Pakistani army airstrikes kill 40 militants

Pakistani military fighter jets have pounded militant positions in the rugged northwestern tribal region close to the border with Afghanistan, killing dozens of militants.

According to a statement released by the Pakistani Army, airstrikes were carried out on Sunday in the militant-infested Shawal area of the North Waziristan.

“In precise aerial strikes, 40 terrorists were killed this afternoon,” the military said in the statement, adding that several others sustained injuries.

The airstrikes were conducted as part of a major operation against the Taliban and other insurgents, the statement further read.

The Pakistani army has been waging a full-scale operation against militant hideouts in North Waziristan since June last year, when a deadly raid on the Karachi International Airport ended the government’s faltering peace talks with the pro-Taliban militants.

According to Pakistan’s military, more than 2,800 militants have been killed over the past months.

On December 16, 2014, a group of pro-Taliban militants stormed an army-run school in Peshawar and killed about 150 people, including 132 students. Some 120 students were also injured in the raid.

The tribal regions on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan have been a hideout for militant groups over the past years. The al-Qaeda and Taliban militants use the mountainous border areas to launch attacks in both countries.

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