Pakistani jets kill militants

Pakistani fighter jets killed at least 30 people in an attack on military hideouts in the tribal region of North Waziristan on Wednesday, security officials said.

Military sources said locations linked with the Pakistani Taliban were shelled in a district close to the Afghan border shortly after midnight.

"At least 30 militants are confirmed dead," said a security official, who declined to be named. "It was a precision bombardment based on real-time intelligence input," he said. Important commanders were said to be among those killed after their presence had been confirmed.

Unconfirmed civilian deaths

Another official said the targets had been involved in several bomb attacks, including one on a camp for domestic refugees.

"There were confirmed reports that terrorists involved in recent attacks, including a blast at an internally displaced persons camp in Peshawar, bomb attacks in Mohmand and Bajaur tribal regions... and attacks on security forces convoys… were hiding in these hideouts", the official told the AFP news agency.

The AFP agency also said there had been some reports of civilian casualties that included women and children, although these were not confirmed by the military.

The attack comes weeks after the Pakistani Taliban officially ended a ceasefire called to allow for talks with the government. The negotiations were aimed at ending the militants' insurgency, which has killed more than 6,800 people since it was launched in 2007, but had yielded little in the way of a result.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government began the negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in February, using intermediaries.

rc/lw (AFP, dpa, Reuters)