At least 25 militants were killed in airstrikes near Datta Khel area of North Waziristan Agency on Thursday.
“The fighting had intensified in the bordering areas of Shawal, while jets have been pounding militant hideouts in the area for months,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement, adding that the military has stepped up air strikes against suspected terrorists in the volatile tribal region.
Pakistan Army launched a massive operation, Zarb-e-Azb, in North Waziristan in mid-June last year to purge the previous stronghold of homegrown Taliban militants and their foreign associates. According to an official tally released on the first anniversary of the offensive, 2,700 militants have been killed and many more wounded in combat.
Most parts of the agency have been cleansed of militants, while troops are now closing in on the remaining militants holed up in Shawal Valley on the Pak-Afghan border.
Hundreds of thousands of tribesmen displaced by fighting have started returning to their homes in North Waziristan under the government supervision.
