Six militants, army colonel killed in Pakistan clash

Security forces had launched a ground offensive against the militants in Shawal last week. “An officer, Lieutenant Colonel Faisal Malik and a soldier also embraced shahadat”, the military said in a statement.

According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces clashed with terrorists in Shawal and killed 6 terrorists in the encounter. The government launched a full-scale military operation in the region in June 2014 following a Taliban attack on an global airport.

Pakistan began a ground offensive in the deeply forested ravines of the valley, a historical smuggling route which straddles the border between North and South Waziristan, on Friday. “The ground action in Shawal has commenced”, military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa told a private TV channel. Shawal Valley and a pocket to its northwest are the remaining areas that need to be cleared.

The ISPR said that the strikes also destroyed a training camp and an arms depot of terrorists.

Homegrown Taliban militants and their foreign cohorts used to control North Waziristan Agency, including Shawal Valley and Datta Khel, and runs along the Afghan border.