Peshawar : At least 19 terrorists, including five militant commanders were killed and seven soldiers martyred on Monday when security forces exchanged gunfire with militants in the restive North Waziristan agency along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
According to Inter Services Public Relations, an intense exchange of gunfire took place in an un-cleared pocket in North Waziristan along the Afghan border. Security forces chased and cordoned off the militants when one of them detonated his suicide jacket, said an ISPR spokesperson. He said that seven soldiers, including five officials, were killed as a result of the explosion.
North Waziristan, one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal districts along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, is a hotbed of militants where the military is trying to gain control. A major military operation against local and foreign militants has been underway since last June in North Waziristan, once considered the base of the Pakistani Taliban. The army said that it has cleared 90 per cent of the region since launching the June 15 operation.
