At least thirteen pro-Taliban militants were killed when the Pakistani air force military aircraft carried out operations in a troubled northwestern tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.
According to a statement released by the Pakistani Army’s Directorate of Inter-Services Public Relations, the airborne attacks, which also destroyed five terrorist hideouts, were conducted in Datta Khel town of North Waziristan, located 317 kilometers (197 miles) west of the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday.
On May 15, at least 17 pro-Taliban militants were killed when Pakistani warplanes struck militant positions in Shawal district of the rugged North Waziristan tribal region.
The Pakistani army started an operation against militant hideouts in North Waziristan last June after a deadly raid on the Karachi International Airport ended the government’s faltering peace talks with the pro-Taliban militants.
The military says it has killed more than 1,200 militants since launching the June 15, 2014 operation.
The tribal regions on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan have been a hideout for Takfiri militant groups, including al-Qaeda and the pro-Taliban militants, during the past years. The militants use the mountainous border area to launch attacks in both countries.
Pakistan intensified its anti-terror campaign following a December 16, 2014 attack on an army-run school in the city of Peshawar, which claimed the lives of about 150 people.
Violence has been increasing in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt following the 2001 US-led invasion of neighboring Afghanistan.
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