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U.S. senators visit NW Pakistan tribal region

Xinhua, July 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator John McCain, on Sunday visited Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region which has almost been cleared of the Taliban and other militant groups.

The military said that McCain, accompanied by a congressional delegation including Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Joe Donnelly, went to North Waziristan Agency to visit areas cleared of terrorists by the army over the past years.

"Having seen first hand, the erstwhile hide outs and communication infrastructure, been cleared of terrorists, the delegation was highly appreciative of Pak Army's accomplishment of cleansing the entire area of North Waziristan right up to Pak-Afghan Border," an army statement said.

The U.S. senators arrived in Pakistan on Saturday amid tensions over several issues including a halt to the subsidized F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan and the U.S. drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in May.

Pakistani civil and military leaders had condemned the U.S. attack which they believed also hurt efforts for the peace process in Afghanistan.

The delegation also met with wounded soldiers and officers who were seriously affected in the war against the Taliban and other militant groups and have now voluntarily rejoined the battlefield.

"The visitors appreciated the determination and grit of all affected Pakistani soldiers and their unparalleled sacrifice for their motherland," the statement from the army's Inter-Services Public Relations said.

They also held talks with Pakistani Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, and commended the transparent process of the tribal regions' stabilization carried out by the Pakistan government, the Foreign Ministry said. Endit