12 suspected militants killed by Pakistan army strikes

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – At least 12 suspected Taliban militants were killed as the Pakistan army renewed a campaign in the country's northwestern tribal belt on Sunday, officials said.

A Pakistan army official told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity that, after a months-long lull, army jets pounded militant hideouts in the remote Tirah valley of the Khyber Agency tribal area, on the Afghan border, killing at least 12 suspected militants and destroying five hideouts.

The move came hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani accused Islamabad of “not taking appropriate action against militants” at the Heart of Asia Conference in India, which is focused on ending decades of violence in Afghanistan.

In June 2014 the Pakistani army launched a full-scale assault on fighters in the northwestern tribal belt operating under the umbrella of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a coalition of Pakistani militant groups.

According to the army’s media wing, over 4,500 suspected militants and more than 500 soldiers have been killed in air strikes, landmine blasts and clashes during this period.

The ongoing offensive also displaced over a million tribesmen, mainly from North Waziristan, the initial focus of the military operation, of which less than 30 percent have managed to return home.