Fighting Taliban in Afghanistan, NW Pakistan, intensifies

At least 23 militants were killed on Wednesday when Pakistani fighter jets bombed their hideouts in the country’s troubled northwest bordering Afghanistan, military said. The attacks also destroyed four militant hideouts in Shawal, in the North Waziristan tribal district, where the military has been mounting an offensive against Taliban strongholds since June. The army has intensified its offensive after the massacre of 150 people, 134 of them children, in a school in Peshawar in December, a carnage which Pakistan described as its own “mini 9/11” and a game-changer in the fight against extremism.

23 terrorists were killed and four hideouts were destroyed through effective and precise aerial strikes in Shawal.

Pakistani military statement

Afghan police say that at least 26 people have been killed by a rocket that hit a house during a wedding party in the southern province of Helmand. Police spokesman Fareed Ahmad Obaid says at least 45 people were wounded when the rocket struck late Wednesday night during a firefight between government forces and Taliban insurgents nearby.

Asia-Pacific