PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s army says its jets have killed at least 18 militants as part of an ongoing offensive to eliminate militants’ hideouts and ammunition stockpiles in the Khyber tribal region.
An army statement Sunday says the jets destroyed five such hideouts with “precise strikes” during the offensive late Saturday night.
Besides the militants killed, the army said the strikes destroyed huge caches of arms and ammunition hidden in various parts of the region, near the Afghan border.
The Pakistani army is now regularly targeting militants’ hideouts in Khyber, since fighters fled there from North Waziristan tribal region where it has been conducting a monthslong operation.
The offensive has also driven thousands of local tribesmen to leave their areas and head for safety in the main northwestern city of Peshawar.
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