Pakistani fighter jets on Friday mowed down at least 23 militants including “top commanders” in Datta Khel.
“Late on Friday warplanes pounded militant targets in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) with much success. On top of killing 23 insurgents, the blitz also destroyed an underground arms/ammunition dump along with their hidey-holes joined through a network of tunnels,” military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said.
Insurgent groups in this area are reportedly tied up with the feared Haqqani network. They are also reported to export fighters and suicide bombers against US and NATO troops deployed in the neighbouring Afghanistan.
“In very effective and precise aerial strikes some important Taliban commanders were also killed,” the military said in a statement.
NWA is one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts that border Afghanistan. It has been a hub for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants since the early 2000s.
The Taliban and other militants have taken refuge in Khyber from a major army offensive launched in June in North Waziristan, another restive tribal area on the Afghan border that has been a hub for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants since the early 2000s.
Meanwhile, a missile strike on a Taliban compound in NWA killed at least four militants on Friday, officials said –the second such incident in a week. Another similar strike in the same area on December 20 killed at least five militants, officials said.
The Pakistani military says it has killed more than 1,700 militants so far in its heavy offensive in the tribal zone, with 126 soldiers having lost their lives.
Pakistan has ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of the December 16 slaughter at an army-run school in Peshawar, where 134 children were among the victims gunned down by heavily-armed Taliban militants.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the establishment of military courts for terror-related cases in order to accelerate trials, and he has also lifted a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it for terrorism-related cases.
Officials said Monday that Pakistan plans to execute around 500 militants in the coming weeks (Agencies)
