Hours after jets pounded targets in Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing 15 terrorists there, the army announced that it was commencing a ground operation in the region.
According to Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Asim Bajwa, the ground operation was being carried out on direction of the army chief.
Earlier on Thursday, air strikes killed 43 suspected militants near the Afghan border on Thursday, the military said. The attacks took place in Gharlamai and Shawal areas of North Waziristan tribal region, where the army has been waging a major offensive to clear militant hideouts since June last year.
“Twenty-eight terrorists were killed in Gharlamai area and another 15 were killed in Shawal in precise aerial strikes,” the military said in a statement.
The conflict zone is remote and off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the army’s claims, including the number and identity of those killed.
A large number of militants fleeing the operation in other parts of North Waziristan are believed to have taken refuge in Shawal Valley, which is considered to be an al Qaeda sanctuary and a stronghold of Gul Bahadur, a warlord once considered pro-government.
Shawal has also been the focus of US drone attacks this year with multiple strikes hitting targets in the valley in which dozens of suspected militants were killed.
The recent strikes come two days after the military said it had eliminated at least 65 militants on Monday in air raids conducted in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency.
On Sunday, in a similar statement, the army had said it killed 40 terrorists in air strikes in the country’s tribal belt, shortly after an attack in Attock that killed Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada.
Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade following the late 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
The Pakistan Army began a major campaign in North Waziristan in June last year and authorities have now vowed to intensify operations both in the border regions and across the country.