– Pakistani troops, artillery and helicopter gunships hit targets in the country’s tribal areas on Thursday, officials said, in a second day of military action against Taliban insurgents.
The attacks in North Waziristan, a militant stronghold on the Afghan border, destroyed hundreds of shops and houses, officials said.
They came a day after air strikes and ground fighting killed at least 71 suspected militants and four security personnel in the same area.
Local residents and officials said thousands had started fleeing towards the garrison town of Bannu in neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to the unrest.
Troops backed by tanks, helicopter gunships and reconnaissance drones swung into action on Thursday in an offensive against terrorists.
The official said a curfew had been imposed in the whole of North Waziristan.
“Artillery and helicopter gunships are targeting militant hideouts,” a local intelligence official in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, told the media.
He added that troops on the ground had begun a door to door search operation for militants.
The violence comes as another blow to peace talks between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which have made little progress since they began in February.
