Pakistan air strikes kill 18 militants near Afghan border: military

Pakistan’s military said on Sunday it had killed 18 militants in air attacks in a troubled tribal district near the Afghan border. The strikes took place Saturday night in Khyber district, where the Taliban and another banned militant group the Lashkar-e-Islam have taken refuge, the military said in a statement. It said a huge cache of arms and ammunition was also destroyed. Pakistan has been battling Islamist groups in its semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004 after its army entered the region to search for Al-Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. In June the army began an offensive against militant hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal agency after a bloody raid on Karachi Airport ended faltering peace talks between the government and the Taliban. North Waziristan is a major base for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Pakistan’s army says it has killed more than a thousand militants and lost 86 soldiers since the start of the operation.

Asia-Pacific