Pakistan: Airstrikes kill 35 militants
A Pakistani youth, center, who was displaced with his family from Pakistan’s tribal area of Bajur, due to fighting between the Taliban and the army, cools off under a hand pump, during a heat wave on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. Pakistanis are facing a shortage of clean drinking water due to the low level of water in the country’s dams. AP
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s military says warplanes have struck three militant hideouts in a Taliban stronghold near the Afghan border, killing 35 fighters.
An army statement says the Wednesday morning strikes targeted areas in the North Waziristan tribal region, where the military has been conducting a major offensive since mid-June.
The tribal region has long been home to a mix of local and Al-Qaeda-linked foreign militants, including armed groups which carry out cross-border attacks on U.S. and other NATO troops in Afghanistan.
The army says the operation has so far killed over 900 militants in the area, which is off limits to journalists, making it impossible to confirm the claim independently.
The strikes came a day after the Pakistani Taliban took credit for a Saturday attack on a navy dockyard.
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