14 militants, including top commanders, killed in North Waziristan air strikes

ISPR says militants took away bodies of their slain accomplices while fleeing area

RAWALPINDI: At least fourteen terrorists, including top commanders, were killed during air strikes in North Waziristan on Tuesday.

"Fourteen terrorists including some of their important commanders were killed in aerial strikes in Alwara area, North Waziristan today," an Inter Services Public Relations statement said.

Read: 23 militants killed in North Waziristan, Khyber Agency airstrikes

"Terrorists were seen dragging some of their bodies while fleeing from area," the statement added.

Last month, as many as 23 militants, including foreigners, were killed during airstrikes in areas close to the Pakistan, Afghanistan border of Khyber and North Waziristan agencies.

Read: Air strikes kill 20 terrorists in Khyber Agency

Militants used to control all of North Waziristan, a mountainous region that includes the Shawal Valley and runs along the Afghan border but Pakistan Army has recaptured most of it in the operation launched last June.

The Pakistani Taliban mainly fight against the government in Islamabad and are separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban that ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s before being expelled in a US-led intervention.

Both groups send fighters against Afghanistan’s Western-backed government. Afghan officials have said the Pakistani army offensive has driven large numbers of fighters over the border, complicating the war in Afghanistan’s east and north.