Pakistan kills 34 militants in airstrikes: military

ISLAMABAD // Pakistan’s military killed 34 militants in airstrikes on a tribal region near the Afghan border on Wednesday as part of a major offensive against insurgents that began last year.

The Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam militant groups are based in Khyber, which became a hideout for extremist groups following the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001.

The strikes coincided with the appointment of the country’s new air chief Sohail Aman, who will on Thursday take over from his predecessor Tahir Rafiq Butt upon completion of his three-year tenure.

The military began its latest offensive in Khyber in October 2014, four months after a similar operation in the North Waziristan district which was triggered by a bloody Taliban attack on Karachi airport that sank faltering peace talks.

Rights activists are wary of the death tolls given by the military and say many women and children have also died.

Also on Wednesday, a polio worker was shot dead while another injured in the tribal district of Bajaur, underscoring the continuing violence against vaccination teams as Pakistan tries to eradicate the crippling childhood disease that is endemic in only two other countries – Nigeria and Afghanistan.

It brings to 78 the number killed in attacks on immunisation teams since December 2012.

Taliban militants have long claimed the polio vaccination drive is a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

* Agence France-Presse