ISLAMABAD
Army gunships pounded suspected militant hideouts in troubled North Waziristan -- one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan -- early Wednesday morning, killing at least 35 militants, army spokespeople said.
The gunships struck three militant hideouts northwest of Datta Khel, a town on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, early Wednesday morning, Inter Services Public Relations, which speaks for the Pakistani Army said. Datta Khel is considered a stronghold of the Taliban's Hafiz Gul Bahadur group -- the public face of the formidable Haqqani Network.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition was destroyed in the airstrikes, the public relations group said.
Wednesday's attack was the second on Taliban hideouts in the area in the last two days. Six suspected militants were killed Tuesday in a clash with army in the suburbs of Datta Khel, according to officials.
The fresh casualties have pushed to over 960 the number of militants killed since June 15, when the army launched its invasion of North Waziristan to eliminate Pakistani Taliban's mother organization, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, according to official accounts. The figure, however, cannot be independently verified as journalists are not allowed to visit the areas where the operation has hit.
Some 82 soldiers have also been killed in clashes and landmine blasts in the operation, officials say.
The air strikes have forced about 1 million Waziris to migrate to the adjacent Bannu, Karak, and Lakki Marwat districts.
www.aa.com.tr/en
