LANDI KOTAL: Twelve suspected militants were killed in air strikes in Khyber Agency’s Tirah valley on Sunday.

Official sources said the air strikes were conducted in Rajgal valley, a forested area in the Kukikhel tribal region, near the border with Afghanistan.

They said the air strikes were ordered after a tip-off about the presence of militants in hideouts under the thick forest of Rajgal.

Fighter planes of the Pakistan Air Force destro­yed at least three hideouts, the sources added.

Two banned militant organisations, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-i-Islam, established their hideouts and training camps in Rajgal and adjoining mountainous regions bordering Afghanistan after they were driven out from Bara.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2016