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| Deadly Pakistani airstrikes target militants believed responsible for recent attacks | Deadly Pakistani airstrikes target militants believed responsible for recent attacks |
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| ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s military launched airstrikes on its own soil Tuesday, killing 40 suspected militants, in a desperate attempt to combat terrorist attacks that are escalating across the country. | |
| Tribal elders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared reprisal from militants, said it appeared that the strikes were more accurate than past efforts had been. | Tribal elders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared reprisal from militants, said it appeared that the strikes were more accurate than past efforts had been. |
| The home of Adnan Rashid, a senior Taliban commander, was hit and his family members were injured, but he escaped unhurt, the local elders said. Another strike, on Al Noor Mosque in the village of Essorhi, killed 15 people — all reportedly militants, elders said. | The home of Adnan Rashid, a senior Taliban commander, was hit and his family members were injured, but he escaped unhurt, the local elders said. Another strike, on Al Noor Mosque in the village of Essorhi, killed 15 people — all reportedly militants, elders said. |
| “So this time the army gunships and jet fighters are accurately targeting the militants,” one elder from the town of Mir Ali said in a phone interview. | |
| The strikes, one of heaviest bombardments of resistive tribal areas in several years, follow the deaths of 20 Pakistani army soldiers in a suicide bombing Sunday. A day later, 13 people were killed in a bombing at a market near army headquarters in Rawalpindi. And on Tuesday, three people administering polio vaccinations were shot and killed in Karachi. | |
| The airstrikes began late Monday night over a troubled area of North Waziristan, a hotbed for Pakistani and foreign militants near the Afghan border. | The airstrikes began late Monday night over a troubled area of North Waziristan, a hotbed for Pakistani and foreign militants near the Afghan border. |
| Military officials said 40 suspected militants were killed in the strikes, including those suspected of carrying out a bombing in September that killed 85 people at a Christian church in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. | |
| According to local officials, it was the first time the air force has resorted to aerial strikes in North Waziristan since the military struck a cease-fire agreement with local Taliban chiefs in 2007. | According to local officials, it was the first time the air force has resorted to aerial strikes in North Waziristan since the military struck a cease-fire agreement with local Taliban chiefs in 2007. |
| Although some of the elders interviewed said many of the fatalities were indeed Taliban militants, local residents said there were also numerous civilian casualties. They said they and their families were fleeing the area because they feared for their safety. | |
| “Can you hear the noise of the gunships? They are just over our heads,” Haji Jamaludin, a local resident, told Reuters by telephone from the area. “Everyone in the village is running around with children and women, looking for a safe place to hide.” | |
| The strikes, which follow a series of smaller military operations in tribal areas in recent weeks, could be a sign that Pakistan’s new army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, plans to take a harder line against militants. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Sharif in late November to head Pakistan’s nuclear-armed, 550,000-member military. The two men share the same last name, but are not related. | The strikes, which follow a series of smaller military operations in tribal areas in recent weeks, could be a sign that Pakistan’s new army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, plans to take a harder line against militants. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Sharif in late November to head Pakistan’s nuclear-armed, 550,000-member military. The two men share the same last name, but are not related. |
| The prime minister has been pushing to hold peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, which has waged a decade-long insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives. But those talks have yet to begin, and former military officials say the country’s top generals have been pushing for more decisive action against militants in the meantime. | |
| On Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a convoy of paramilitary soldiers at a security checkpoint in North Waziristan. The blast killed 20 soldiers and injured more than 30. The Taliban took credit, saying the attack was in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike in early November that killed Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. | |
| The Taliban also took credit for Sunday’s blast near army headquarters in Rawalpindi. That attack, carried out by a suicide bomber on a bicycle, killed seven army personnel, two civilian army employees, three students and a shopkeeper. | The Taliban also took credit for Sunday’s blast near army headquarters in Rawalpindi. That attack, carried out by a suicide bomber on a bicycle, killed seven army personnel, two civilian army employees, three students and a shopkeeper. |
| “We feel that the government is neither serious, sincere nor powerful [enough] for peace talks,” Shahidullah Shahid, a Taliban spokesman, said in a statement. “If the government shows sincerity and seriousness, even now, we are ready to have peace negotiations.” | |
| The prime minister did not directly comment on the airstrikes Tuesday. While visiting injured soldiers in the hospital in Rawalpindi, Sharif said the deceased soldiers had “rendered great sacrifices in the war against terrorism and the nation is proud of them.” | The prime minister did not directly comment on the airstrikes Tuesday. While visiting injured soldiers in the hospital in Rawalpindi, Sharif said the deceased soldiers had “rendered great sacrifices in the war against terrorism and the nation is proud of them.” |
| There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the polio workers. While a team of nurses and volunteers were attempting to vaccinate children on the outskirts of Karachi, gunmen on motorcycles opened fire. Two female polio workers and one police officer who was providing security were killed. One child was also injured, reported Express News, a private Pakistani TV channel. | |
| As a result of the attack, polio workers in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh have at least temporarily suspended the vaccination campaign. | As a result of the attack, polio workers in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh have at least temporarily suspended the vaccination campaign. |
| Last year, 83 new polio cases were reported in Pakistan, and on Friday the World Health Organization said Peshawar is the world’s “largest reservoir” of the virus. | |
| But health officials who attempt to vaccinate children are increasingly coming under attack from Islamic militants. | But health officials who attempt to vaccinate children are increasingly coming under attack from Islamic militants. |
| Shaiq Hussain contributed to this report. |