Operation Khyber-II: Air raids kill nine militants in Tirah

Five hideouts and an arms depot were destroyed in air strikes

JAMRUD: Nine suspected militants were killed on Saturday as warplanes bombed targets in the remote Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency as part of the military offensive codenamed Operation Khyber-2.

Officials told The Express Tribune that fighter jets pounded militant hideouts in Bagh, Wochay Wona, Paati and Naaka areas of Tirah. These areas were once dominated by the Kokikhel sub-clan of the Afridi tribe, but almost all of them have been abandoned and are now safe havens for militants.

The officials said five hideouts were destroyed in the latest air raids in the areas located some 150 kilometres away from Peshawar.

An arms and explosives depot was also destroyed in the blitz. The identities of the slain militants were not immediately known, but the officials claimed that a notorious commander was among the dead.

The targets of the latest air strikes were houses occupied by militants associated with the outlawed terrorist organisations of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Islam.

The claims could not be verified independently because the region has been off-limits to the media.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2015.