Pak Air Strikes Continue to Flush Out Militants

Pakistani fighter jets resumed air strikes in North Waziristan on Monday, as a response to the attack on the largest international airport in the country last Sunday, a day after the army announced the start of a major military operation to flush insurgents out of the region.

Military sources said that the combat aircraft killed at least 21 militants in the region’s Shawal sector. An all-day curfew has been imposed by the army and the mobile phones have been switched off to undermine the insurgency and restrict people’s movements, leading to food shortages in some places. A rise in violence is expected due to which majority of the families are fleeing the region to their relatives in Afghanistan. Pakistan had sent troops, artillery and helicopter gunships to North Waziristan on Sunday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been under pressure, both from the army and the U.S to launch a major operation. Sharif did not comment immediately on the operation and would be addressing the Parliament later on Monday.

Sunday’s air strikes were the second in the region this week in response to the attack by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on Karachi airport. Pakistan has been fighting an Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, with the Pakistani Taliban being the main militant group.

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