Pakistani fighter jets on Tuesday killed six suspected militants in fresh strikes on Taliban strongholds in the northwest, the target of an expected ground operation, officials said.
The strikes in South Waziristan come after a militant hostage siege at army headquarters near Islamabad left 23 people dead at the weekend, the latest in a surge in suicide blasts and attacks blamed on the Taliban.
The government and military have vowed to launch an all-out offensive in South Waziristan to hunt down the militant leadership, but the timing of the offensive remains unclear. Air strikes have been ongoing for months.
The war planes on Tuesday targeted the Taliban strongholds of Makeen, Ladha and Nawazkot towns, which had already been pummelled from the air on Sunday.
“At least six Taliban including a local commander were killed in the air attack. Five militants have been injured,” said a security official in South Waziristan who asked not to be named.
Intelligence and local government officials confirmed the death toll.
“There were airstrikes on Taliban hideouts while heavy artillery was also being used by the troops to pound militant hideouts,” local government official Naseer Ullah told Agence France-Presse.
The army has claimed success in an offensive against the Taliban earlier this year in the one-time tourist paradise of Swat valley, but a wave of attacks in the past week show the Islamist threat is far from quashed.
Military and government officials have been saying for months that a full operation is imminent in the rugged, semi-autonomous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, known as a hideout for both Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. — AFP