MIRANSHAH:
Military authorities on Thursday said that helicopter gunships destroyed
militants’ communication centres established on hilltops towards the
east of North Waziristan’s headquarters Miranshah.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said 23 militants, eight of them Uzbeks, were killed when the Pakistan Army helicopter gunships pounded their positions on Zartatangi hilltops east of Miranshah.
Tribal sources in Miranshah said they had seen the helicopters targeting the mountains at some distance from the residential area but were unable to confirm the name of the hilltop ‘Zartatangi’ where the ISPR claimed the militants had established communication centres.
Also, the ISPR statement said snipers of the Pakistan Army killed eight Uzbek militants when they were planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the Miranshah-Mir Ali Road on Wednesday night.There was no further detail in the ISPR statement whether the bodies of the slain Uzbek militants were taken away by the militants or were in the possession of security forces.
After the government launched a major military operation codenamed “Zarb-e-Azb” against the local and foreign militants in North Waziristan last Sunday, the Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft and army’s helicopter gunships began pounding the suspected positions of the militants in the tribal region.
It is expected that an extensive ground offensive will be launched in North Waziristan once evacuation of the civilian population is completed. Almost 140,000 persons are reported to have fled North Waziristan and entered Bannu since the launching of the operation.
APP adds from Islamabad: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif visited the Air Headquarters here on Thursday and called on Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt.According to the ISPR, progress of the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb was reviewed and matters of mutual interest were discussed.NNI adds: Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt welcomed General Raheel Sharif to the Air Headquarters. Both chiefs also agreed on strategies to make the operation more effective.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said 23 militants, eight of them Uzbeks, were killed when the Pakistan Army helicopter gunships pounded their positions on Zartatangi hilltops east of Miranshah.
Tribal sources in Miranshah said they had seen the helicopters targeting the mountains at some distance from the residential area but were unable to confirm the name of the hilltop ‘Zartatangi’ where the ISPR claimed the militants had established communication centres.
Also, the ISPR statement said snipers of the Pakistan Army killed eight Uzbek militants when they were planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the Miranshah-Mir Ali Road on Wednesday night.There was no further detail in the ISPR statement whether the bodies of the slain Uzbek militants were taken away by the militants or were in the possession of security forces.
After the government launched a major military operation codenamed “Zarb-e-Azb” against the local and foreign militants in North Waziristan last Sunday, the Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft and army’s helicopter gunships began pounding the suspected positions of the militants in the tribal region.
It is expected that an extensive ground offensive will be launched in North Waziristan once evacuation of the civilian population is completed. Almost 140,000 persons are reported to have fled North Waziristan and entered Bannu since the launching of the operation.
APP adds from Islamabad: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif visited the Air Headquarters here on Thursday and called on Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt.According to the ISPR, progress of the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb was reviewed and matters of mutual interest were discussed.NNI adds: Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt welcomed General Raheel Sharif to the Air Headquarters. Both chiefs also agreed on strategies to make the operation more effective.
