In continuing targeted strikes, helicopter gunships attacked a compound in Thall in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa killing nine terrorists on Saturday, according to security officials.
Military denies TTP allegations
The air strikes started early morning and were based on confirmed reports about the presence of the militants. Meanwhile the Director General Inter Services Public Relations has rejected the allegations by the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that women and children were in the custody of the security forces. He clarified that not a single woman or child was held in custody and women and children have never been detained.
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This was a baseless accusation by the TTP and mere propaganda to divert attention from the real issue of their blatant and dastardly acts of terror, it was stated.
The air strikes in Thall come after militant hideouts in North Waziristan were targeted on Wednesday night, killing at least 15 terrorists. A number of Uzbeks were also killed in the strikes by the Pakistan military. Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that the military has the right to self -defence and talks and terror cannot go together. However, he seemed hopeful that the peace process would come back on track. The two committees, one government appointed and the other nominated by the TTP are deadlocked over the talks after continued attacks and the brutal killing of 23 security personnel by the Mohmand faction of the Taliban. The TTP meanwhile has shown its intention to continue the dialogue and has asked the government to call for a ceasefire.