ISLAMABAD: Military Tuesday said it had killed 28 militants in air strikes in the restive tribal region near the Afghan border, a region where it has been battling Islamist groups for more than a decade.

The strikes, that also killed a number of foreign fighters, took place on Tuesday in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan district, a stronghold of Taliban-linked groups, the military said in a statement. In June, the army began an operation in the North Waziristan agency after a bloody raid on Karachi Airport ended faltering peace talks between the government and militants.

North Waziristan is a major base for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistani Taliban), which began it’s campaign against the state in 2007 and also provides Army says it has killed more than a thousand militants and lost 86 soldiers since the start of the operation.—AFP