DHAKA: Air strikes killed at least 15 suspected militants in Pakistan’s north-western Shawal Valley on Thursday, intelligence officials said, a week after security forces moved in on Taliban strongholds there.

The deeply forested ravines of the valley are a key smuggling route between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and are dotted with Taliban bases used as launch pads for attacks on Pakistani forces.

In the latest air strikes, a local security commander and two intelligence officials said that 15 or 16 suspected militants were killed in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan.

The Taliban used to control all of North Waziristan, a mountainous region that includes the Shawal Valley and runs along the Afghan border.

But the Pakistani military launched an operation there last June and has recaptured most of it, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2025 HRS, MAY 21, 2015
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