ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Three militants were killed Monday in North Waziristan as Pakistani military officials declared victory in their offensive in the volatile tribal regions.
U.S. missiles struck targets in North Waziristan where Taliban and al-Qaida fighters seek refuge. Three militants were killed in the strike, the second in a day, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports.
U.S. aircraft launched a strike Jan. 14 on Taliban hideouts near the border between North and South Waziristan in an operation targeting militant chief Hakimullah Mehsud. His cousin and former leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in an August airstrike by the U.S. military.
Meanwhile, Pakistani army Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani said many of the high-profile militants in the tribal provinces were wiped out by the Pakistani military, Dawn added.
He told troops in a weekend briefing that his forces would deploy to the region to make sure refugees could return to the region as soon as possible.
Kayani met Friday with U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal and James Jones, the U.S. national security adviser, ahead of an international assault in Afghan's Helmand province.
The Pakistani general warned his American counterparts that all fighting should remain on the Afghan side of the border.
Pakistan launched an October offensive in the tribal regions as U.S. and international forces began to lay the groundwork for a new war strategy for Afghanistan.
