KHAR: Air strikes targeting Taliban hideouts in Khyber and North Waziristan killed 48 suspected militants on Tuesday, the military said.

The armed forces have since June been waging an assault to wipe out strongholds of Taliban and other militants in North Waziristan and other tribal areas, killing at least 600 insurgents, according to the military.

An initial round of strikes killed 18 militants on Tuesday morning, a statement from the armed forces said, and 30 more died in later attacks from helicopter gunships.

“Five hideouts were wiped out in Khyber and seven were eliminated in North Waziristan,” the military said.

The claims could not be verified from independent sources because journalists have no access to tribal areas.

Security officials said a house belonging to Hafiz Gul Bahadar, a Taliban leader with links to Al Qaeda, was destroyed in the strikes. Bahadar had already fled the area, the officials said.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2014