A file photo of PAF F16. PHOTO: PPI
More than 20 terrorists have been killed in a pre-dawn air blitz in the strategic Shawal Valley of North Waziristan where some hardcore militants are holed up.
Officials said the early Saturday morning air strikes targeted hideouts of terrorists in the Mana and Gurbaz areas of the densely-forested Shawal Valley, which is located on the confluence of borders between North and South Waziristan agencies near the Durand Line.
A statement issued by the military’s media wing, the ISPR, confirmed the air strikes which, it said, killed around 17 terrorists. However, officials in the political administration claimed 26 to 28 militants died in the precise aerial strikes.
An unspecified number of militants were also wounded in the blitz that destroyed six hideouts and two vehicles belonging to the terrorists. The air raids came two days after militants attacked security forces in the Mashaki area of South Waziristan Agency. A soldier, Lance Naik Muhammad Pervez Khan, belonging to Dera Ismail Khan, was killed in that attack.
The military had launched a mjore operation, codenamed Zarb-e-Azb, in North Waziristan in mid-June, last year, to purge the region of Taliban militants and their foreign collaborators. Most parts of the agency, including Mir Ali and Miramshah, have been cleansed of terrorists while the remaining militants fled to Shawal Valley.
These militants sporadically mount attacks on security forces in North and South Waziristan. In August, the military launched a ground operation in Shawal following weeks of air strikes. The difficult terrain of the valley, however, has apparently slowed down advancement in the region.
Hundreds of thousands of tribesmen displaced by fighting had been sheltered in temporary camps set up by the government in different cities of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. These tribesmen, officially called temporarily displaced persons (TDPs), have started returning to the areas under government supervision.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2015.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ