Pakistan Kills 30 Militants in Air Strikes

W460

Pakistan's military said Wednesday it had killed 30 militants in air strikes on a tribal region near the Afghan border as part of a major anti-insurgent offensive that began last year.

The strikes hit the strategic Tirah valley in Khyber tribal district, where the Pakistani Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam groups have strongholds.

Khyber is one of seven autonomous tribal districts along Pakistan's mountainous western border which became a hotbed of Islamist militants following the U.S.-led invasion of neighboring Afghanistan in 2001.

"Terrorist hideouts were targeted through precise aerial strikes in Tirah, Khyber region killing 30 terrorists," the military said in a statement.

Two arms and ammunition dumps were also destroyed in the strikes, the military said.

The military began its latest offensive in Khyber in October 2014, four months after a similar operation began in North Waziristan district, triggered by a bloody Taliban attack on Karachi airport that sank faltering peace talks.

Air strikes, artillery, mortars and ground troops have all been used to take back territory.

Both conflict zones are off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the number and identity of those killed. 

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