RAWALPINDI: Ten suspected militants were killed when army aviation gunship helicopters carried out a precision strike on a compound considered a safe haven for terrorists in the North Waziristan tribal region.
“In a strike on a terrorist hideout, gunship helicopters destroyed five vehicles and one explosive dump,” a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The statement added that security forces were successfully moving ahead in various parts of North Waziristan. These claims, however, could not be independently verified as journalists have limited access to the restive tribal agency.
Earlier on August 30, at least 32 suspected terrorists were killed and three militant hideouts were destroyed by army aviation’s gunship helicopters in a remote area of Bangidar in North Waziristan.
Military operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched by the Pakistan Army on June 15 following a brazen militant attack on Karachi’s international airport and failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiators.
The Taliban and their ethnic Uzbek allies both claimed responsibility for the attack on Karachi airport, which was seen as a strategic turning point in how Pakistan tackles the insurgency.
Nearly a million people have fled the offensive in North Waziristan, which is aimed at wiping out longstanding militant strongholds in the area, which borders Afghanistan.
North Waziristan has been isolated by deploying troops along its border with neighboring agencies and Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (Fata) regions to block any move of terrorists in and out of the Agency.
