Pakistan bombs militant hideouts in tribal area after peace talks collapse
Military claims 15 militants killed during bomb strike by jet fighters in Mir Ali border region with Afghanistan after talks break down
Pakistani fighter jets bombed suspected militant hideouts in a tribal area on the Afghan border on Thursday, killing at least 15 people, security officials said, after attempts to engage insurgents in peace negotiations collapsed this week.
“We received information about militant hideouts and based on our intelligence, precision strikes were carried out around midnight in the Mir Ali area,” an intelligence official told reporters.
“Fifteen militants were killed in the bombing. Thirteen of them were foreign fighters,” the official said.
Another security official said a cache of arms was destroyed in the strikes.
The administration of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who came to power last year promising to find a negotiated peace with the Taliban, has been trying to engage the militants in talks.
But as the talks broke down this week, the air strikes may herald a broader military offensive in North Waziristan, a region where many al-Qaeda-linked militants are based.