“Ground operation in Shawal, North Waziristan begins”, announced Major General Asim Salim Bajwa, the chief of army’s media-wing – Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – on micro-blogging website Twitter.
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“Twenty-eight militants were killed in Gharlamai area and another 15 were killed in Shawal in precise aerial strikes”, the military said in a statement. Fighter jets are hitting the militants in hideouts to clear the remaining few areas, officials say.
Some 43 suspected militants were killed in adjoining North Waziristan in Pakistani army airstrikes earlier on Thursday. The government launched a full-scale military operation in the region in June 2014 following a Taliban attack on an worldwide airport.
North Waziristan used to be the Pakistani Taliban’s last key stronghold until the start of the operation.
The security forces have increased bombing of the militants’ positions following a suicide attack that killed Punjab Home Minister and 18 other people on Sunday.
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Today’s strikes came two days after the military claimed it had killed at least 65 militants in the air strikes in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency on Monday. Now, after having removed large number of hideouts of militants from a large swathe, the authorities have vowed to boost operations both in the border regions and across the country.
