30 militants killed in Pakistani army airstrikes

Iran Press TV

Wed Mar 25, 2015 2:16PM

At least thirty pro-Taliban militants have been killed when 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 two arms and ammunition depots, were conducted in Tirah Valley of Khyber tribal region on Wednesday.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Salahuddin Ayubi, a spokesman for the outlawed militant group Lashkar-i-Islam, was among the militants killed.

Meanwhile, at least eight suspected militants were killed in a separate military operation in Orakzai tribal region on Wednesday.

The militants were killed after an improvised explosive device (IED) blast triggered a gunfight between the terrorists and security forces in Sabak area of the region. One police officer also lost his life in the process.

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 semi-autonomous tribal regions on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan have been a hideout for Takfiri militant groups, including al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, during the past years.

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.

Since 2001, when the Pakistani government entered an alliance with the United States in its so-called war on terror, many Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks in the country.

MP/HMV/SS