22 suspected militants were blown off after Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets hit couple of militant hideouts and other such entities in North Waziristan’s Shawal valley, stated Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). It runs through North Waziristan, once a Taliban stronghold until the Pakistani military launched an offensive there previous year.
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Strikes were carried out in Datta Khel area of the tribal belt where several militant hideouts were also destroyed.
Reuters quoted unnamed military and civilian officials as saying the air strikes destroyed five buildings in the Shawal area.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media, said all the dead and injured were “militants”.
The army intensified the ongoing offensive in the region following the massacre of 150 people, mostly children, by Taliban militants at a school in Peshawar last December.
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It was not possible to independently verify the casualties as journalists are banned from travelling to the remote mountainous area.
