Pakistani army air raids kill over 40 militants
Pakistani military fighter jets have pounded militant positions in Pakistan’s rugged northwestern tribal region close to the border with Afghanistan, killing at least 44 militants.
According to a statement released by the Pakistani Army, the airstrikes were carried out in two separate militancy-riddled regions across the country’s troubled northwest on Saturday.
At least 28 militants were killed during the aerial bombardment in Khyber district’s Tirah Valley, while a series of airstrikes resulted in the deaths of 16 militants in North Waziristan tribal district, the statement added.
Sources say Pakistan Air Force jets also destroyed militants’ hideouts and ammunition depots across the troubled areas.
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 operation.
In October 2014, the Pakistani military began an offensive in Khyber’s Tirah Valley, carrying out air raids and using artillery, mortars and ground troops. The troubled valley is considered a stronghold of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups.
The semi-autonomous tribal regions on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan have been a hideout for militant groups, including al-Qaeda and pro-Taliban outfits, 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.
Security forces and civilians have remained a constant target of the pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan.
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/HJL/SS
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