Aerial strikes: 38 militants killed in North Waziristan

Civil administration claims 15 Uzbek nationalists among the dead

NORTH WAZIRISTAN:

A large number of local and foreign militants were killed in the latest round of airstrikes near the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan on Friday.

While the military’s media wing confirmed the strikes without giving any specific number of casualties, the political administration claimed at least 38 fighters had died in the aerial bombardment.



Civil administration officers said the slain militants included 15 Uzbek nationalists associated with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

According to officials, five hideouts of militants were targeted by fighter jets in the Meezar and Sherani areas right on the boundary with Afghanistan. Three vehicles loaded with explosives were also destroyed in Mizer Madakhel.

In Peshawar, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the airstrikes in North Waziristan but did not confirm the reports on human or logistical losses.

Pakistan Army has been currently engaged in a military offensive named Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan since June 2014, following a brazen attack on Karachi airport and the failure of peace talks between Islamabad and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.



According to official figures, over 3,400 militants have been killed since the operation was launched.



The latest surgical strikes took place in the Datta Khel area some 35 kilometres away from North Waziristan’s capital city of Miran Shah. The conflict zone is off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to independently verify the number and identity of those killed.

North Waziristan is one of the seven regions in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), which is situated along the Pak-Afghan border. The areas are governed by tribal laws and in recent years became the strongholds of both the Taliban and foreign militants.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2016.