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1st LD Writethru: Army airstrike kills 15 militants in NW Pakistan

Xinhua, February 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least 15 militants were killed when Pakistani army launched missile strikes in the country's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Tuesday, the military said.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the mouthpiece of Pakistani army, said in a statement that the troops backed by fighter jets from Pakistan Air Force pounded eight militants' hideouts in North Waziristan, a restive tribal area along Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Identities of the killed militants have not been revealed yet, but North Waziristan Agency is believed to be a hotbed of outlawed group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Tuesday's airstrikes are continuation of the military operation in North Waziristan Agency.

Aiming at the eradication of local and foreign militants from the volatile North Waziristan agency, the armed offensive called "Zarb-e-Azb" (an Urdu name for the strike of Islamic prophet's sword) was launched on June 15, 2014.

Earlier in December last year, ISPR Director General Asim Bajwa said a total of 3,400 militants have been killed in the operation so far.

He said the military has also destroyed 837 hideouts of the militants, which has broken their backbone and dismantled their network. Enditem