Report: Attacks on Militants in Pakistan Kill 38

A U.S. drone strike and air assaults by Pakistani military forces killed 38 people this weekend in tribal areas near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, official sources reported Sunday.

The Christian Science Monitor brought word of the attacks, which are part of a broader strategy targeting insurgent enclaves in the region:

The airstrikes late Saturday in the Tirrah valley of the Khyber region destroyed four militant hideouts and a suicide bomber training center, said an army statement. The military said several would-be suicide bombers were among the dead, without providing further details.

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Two Pakistani intelligence officials said U.S. drone-fired missiles struck a militant compound in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan early Sunday, killing seven militants and wounding four. The compound, some 300 meters (330 yards) from the Afghan border, was used by fighters loyal to the Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur as well as Uzbek militants.

The Christian Science Monitor also reported that a bomb killed four teenagers and injured seven others Sunday as they prepared to play a volleyball game in Pakistan’s Aurakzai tribal region.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson