Pakistani Military Claims To Have Killed 47 Taliban Fighters

The Pakistani military said on April 23 that at least 47 Taliban fighters have been killed in air strikes over the last two days in the North Waziristan tribal area.

The air strikes targeted a stronghold of Taliban insurgents in the Datta Khel village in the North Waziristan tribal district, according to a statement by the military.

The number and identity of those killed cannot be verified because Pakistan’s mountainous tribal areas are off-limits for journalists.

The area is close to the Afghan border and has been targeted by U.S. drone strikes in the past.

The latest attack was part of a counter-insurgency operation by the Pakistani army against Pakistan's Taliban, the Tehrik-i Taliban (TTP) that began in June 2014 after the TTP and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, claimed responsibility for an assault on Karachi's airport.

With reporting by AFP