Air strikes kill 31 militants in Khyber, NWA

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military on Wednesday said it had killed at least 31 militants in air strikes in northwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border.

It said in a brief statement that militant hideouts were targeted in Khyber Agency and Shawal Valley of North Wziristan Agency, with 14 “terrorists” killed in Khyber and 17 in Shawal.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade. Officials say more than 2,800 militants have been killed since the launch of the latest offensive.

Pakistan has intensified air strikes and ground attacks, as well as raids on militant hideouts, since December, when a Taliban attack on a school left more than 150 people dead, mostly schoolchildren.

Authorities have claimed major successes in the offensive, and say they have broken the backbone of the militants. Yet scattered attacks still take place in the country, though they are fewer in number and of a lesser intensity than in previous years.