Pakistan's military says that its fighter planes bombed suspected militant hideouts near the Afghan border Thursday morning, killing at least 25 terrorists.
An official statement says the airstrikes happened in North Waziristan's Datta Khel area, considered stronghold of militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani network of insurgents involved in deadly attacks in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif while addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York Wednesday reiterated Pakistan's resolve to eliminate terrorists from its soil.
He said that the ongoing counter-militancy offensive called Zarb-e-Azb, in North Waziristan and elsewhere in the country will continue until it achieves its objectives.
"Our operation, Zarb-e-Azb, is the largest anti-terrorism campaign against terrorists anywhere, involving over 180,000 of our security forces. It has made substantial progress in cleansing our country of all terrorists and will conclude only when our objective has been accomplished," Sharif said.
The military-led offensive was launched in June 2014 and officials say it has so far killed more than 3,500 militants, including foreigners while nearly 400 soldiers also lost their lives.
The operation, according to Pakistani officials, has led to a 70 percent decline in terrorist attacks around the country.
Authorities in neighboring Afghanistan say that militants fleeing the Waziristan offensive have joined the Taliban on their side of the border, escalating insurgent violence in that country.
