Pakistan army air raids kill over 40 terrorists in NWA, Tirah Valley

Asia-Pacific, News May 3, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

PESHAWAR (Pakistan) – Pakistan’s fighter jets and helicopter gunships carried out fresh strikes against the hideouts of suspects militants in Khyber and Waziristan tribal regions on Saturday, killing 44 terrorists, some of them foreigners, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The statement said that precision strikes were carried out in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan and Tirah valley of the Khyber Agency.

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.

“Twenty-eight terrorists were killed in the Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency,” the military’s media wing, the ISPR, said without giving further details. Local sources, however, added that the warplanes and gunships bombed the bases of militants in different parts of Tirah, including Kachkol, Kandu, Gharibi and Ghakhi.

Seven hideouts were decimated in the air blitz, sources said, adding that the slain militants were affiliated with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam extremist group.

Security officials said that soldiers had taken control of Mehraban Kalay, Mailay Kalay, Thore Darra, Brekh Mamath, Zarmanza, Tangu, Khaisth and Dwa Thoe after forcing militants of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to flee the areas.

They said that security personnel were now engaged in ground fighting with men of the TTP, Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) and Jamaatul Ahrar in Shah Nao area, close to the Afghan border.

The Pakistan army has been waging a major campaign against Taliban and other militant strongholds in the North Waziristan tribal area since June 2014 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.