BBC Online :
Pakistan’s military have launched air strikes against suspected militant hideouts in the north-west, killing at least 30 people, officials say.
Fighter jets bombed targets in the North Waziristan tribal area on Tuesday, officials said. Fighting was also reported in South Waziristan. Talks between Pakistani government and Taliban militant negotiators broke down last week, after a Taliban-linked group said they killed 23 soldiers.
“The militants had captured a stretch between South Waziristan and North Waziristan and had established training centres where they were also preparing suicide bombers,” a military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The latest attacks primarily took place in the Shawal valley and Datta Khel areas of North Waziristan, Reuters news agency added. There has been no independent confirmation of the number of casualties. The air strikes came a day after senior Pakistani Taliban commander Asmatullah Shaheen was reportedly shot dead in North Waziristan.
Shaheen was briefly the TTP (Pakistani Taliban) interim leader after its chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed last year during a US drone strike.
