Helicopter gunships shell militant hideouts in Hangu, 9 killed
The latest airstrikes were carried out in Tehsil Tull in Hangu district.
HANGU (Web Desk) - Helicopter gunships shelled militant hideouts in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing 9 suspected militants and injuring seven others, Dunya News reported.
According to sources, the airstrikes were carried out in Darsamund and Tarawari villages of Tehsil Tull in Hangu district.
Several militant hideouts were also destroyed in the shelling, sources told.
The airstrikes took place a day after Taliban spokesman Sahidullah Shahid urged the government to declare ceasefire first.
The Taliban spokesman, speaking at a news conference at an undisclosed location in North Waziristan, referred to the military strikes and said they are ready for talks despite attacks.
"The government has started the war and should also take the lead on a ceasefire," he said.
The precision bombardment was part of surgical strikes which sources said should not be taken as a full-fledged military operation.
Earlier on Thursday, PAF jets launched strikes on Taliban hideouts in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency, killing at least 40 suspected militants, in retaliation for attacks by the militants.
After several rounds of talks, government mediators pulled out of scheduled dialogue with their Taliban counterparts on Monday amid outrage over the claimed execution of 23 kidnapped soldiers.
On Sunday a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban movement from Mohmand Agency near the Afghan border said they had killed the soldiers who were seized in the area in June 2010.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the start of talks on January 29 to "give peace another chance" following a seven-year Taliban insurgency that has claimed nearly 7,000 lives.
But a source in his office said Sharif, under pressure to avenge the Taliban killing spree, "issued orders to launch the air strikes" after being briefed by military advisers.
A total of 93 people have been killed since the reconciliation effort was launched at the end of January, including the kidnapped soldiers, according to an AFP tally.
