At Least 15 Killed as Pakistan Bombs Taliban Hideouts

Local Editor

Pakistani jets bombed suspected Taliban hideouts in a northwestern tribal district early Thursday, killing at least 15 people a day after the insurgents offered a ceasefire to resume troubled peace talks if the army stopped targeting them.

"There are confirmed reports of 15 militants including foreigners killed in these airstrikes," a senior security official said, adding that the attacks focused on the town of Mir Ali and surrounding areas of North Waziristan.

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban [TTP] said it was ready to observe a ceasefire to allow the resumption of peace talks, provided Pakistani security forces stopped killing and arresting them.

"Airstrikes were carried out to target militant hideouts with precision. A huge cache of arms and ammunition have also been destroyed," the security official said.
Talks between the Taliban and the government, announced on January 29, stalled this week due to a recent surge in insurgent attacks and a claim by a Taliban faction on Sunday that it had killed 23 kidnapped soldiers.

A second security official confirmed in condition of anonymity that Thursday's strikes were "in retaliation for recent Taliban attacks".
As well as the execution of the kidnapped soldiers, the insurgents claimed a car bomb attack on a police bus in Karachi on February 13 in which 12 officers died.
Residents in the area said the compound caught fire after the attack and burned through the night.

A resident in the area who requested anonymity told AFP some of the residents and their families were seen moving to safer places after the airstrikes.
Militants killed an army major near the northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, and a soldier died in a separate border post attack the same day in lawless South Waziristan, security officials said.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the start of talks with the Taliban on January 29 to "give peace another chance" following a seven-year insurgency that has claimed nearly 7,000 lives.

Some observers have raised doubts about the ability of the central Taliban command to control all factions, including some opposed to negotiations.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team