Pakistani military fighter jets have bombed militant positions in the country’s rugged northwestern tribal region close to the border with Afghanistan, killing almost two dozen militants.
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“A huge ammunition dump was also blown up in strikes in Khyber Agency”, the statement said.
The remote area is off-limits to journalists the army’s claims have not been independently verified.
The army also started an offensive in Khyber in October 2014, carrying out air raids and using ground troops, artillery, and mortars.
Initially, 10 militants were reported killed but the intelligence officials later raised the toll to 20.
The operation took place in Charikar, the provincial capital, where insurgents have always been active.
Despite informal talks between Afghan government representatives and the Taliban in Norway, Qatar and Dubai, the fighting in Afghanistan has escalated following the launch of the Taliban’s spring offensive in April.
The deeply forested ravines are a smuggling route between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, and are dotted with militant bases used as launch pads for attacks on Pakistani forces.
Senior police officer Shahzad Sultan says a militant exploded a suicide vest during the raid Monday on a house near the eastern city of Lahore, injuring nine officers.
The NATO-led military assistance force said it viewed reports of more money flowing to IS offshoots as “exaggerated”, spokesman Col. Brian Tribus said.
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Additionally, help for Islamic State, or Daesh because the group is understood regionally, has unfold and the group is increasing its contingent of overseas fighters and disenchanted Taliban militants.
