Pakistan: Scores of militants killed in North Waziristan

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The Pakistani military says it has killed at least 104 militants in the country's northwestern tribal regions in two days' time.

Quoting an army statement, Xinhua news agency reports airstrikes on Monday killed at least 50 militants in the Shawal and Gharlamai area of the North Waziristan tribal agency, while 15 others were killed near the Afghan border in the Khyber tribal region.

At least 40 militants perished in Pakistani air force attacks in North Waziristan on Sunday, the military said.

The Pakistani armed forces have stepped up attacks against militants in its western tribal regions after a suicide bomber killed the home minister of Punjab province and at least a dozen others on Sunday.

Al-Qaida-linked Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for the death of its leader, Malik Ishaq, who was killed last month.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, Pakistani legislator Abdul Rashid Godil was shot five times -- but lived -- after four gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on his vehicle while stuck in traffic in Karachi.

Militant attacks have also been reported in Balochistan province, to the south, where a roadside bombing near a police station in Quetta killed at least two people on Aug. 11.

Since June of last year, the Pakistani military has mounted an offensive, known as Zarb-e-Abab, into the country's northwestern tribal regions, reportedly killing 2,500 militants with the Taliban and other groups.

The airstrikes come as reports indicate Pakistan and neighboring India have been intermittently exchanging fire along the disputed regional border of Kashmir and Jammu. Both sides have blamed the other for the incidents.

Indian troops have also recently dealt with militant activity from the region, last week reportedly killing two militants during a firefight in Indian-administered Kashmir. Officials believe gunmen who laid siege to a police station in Punjab state late last month came from the same region.

Officials from both countries will reportedly meet in New Delhi on Aug. 23 to discuss security ties for the first time.