By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan's army claimed to have killed 33 suspected militants in airstrikes in its northwestern tribal belt Wednesday.
A senior military official said, on condition of anonymity, that the strikes targeted hideouts in the remote Tirah and Shawal valleys of the Khyber Agency and North Waziristan tribal areas. More militants were also injured.
The two regions are among seven semi-autonomous tribal areas in Pakistan and have been a battleground between the army and the Taliban since June 2014, when the army began a military operation in North Waziristan that later extended to Khyber Agency.
The casualties take the numbers of militants killed since June 2014 to more than 3,000. More than 350 soldiers have also lost their lives in landmine blasts and clashes with Taliban fighters.
Media have been barred from accessing operation-hit areas and verifying the army figures.
The operation has also displaced 1.5 million tribesmen from the two tribal agencies.
