Pakistani fighter jets pounded North Waziristan on Monday, a day after the army announced the start of a full-scale drive to flush Islamist insurgents out of the volatile region bordering Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported.
In a long-awaited military operation precipitated by a deadly insurgent attack on Pakistan's biggest airport a week ago, Islamabad has deployed troops, artillery and helicopter gunships to fight insurgents in North Waziristan, according to the AP.
The Taliban and their ethnic Uzbek allies holed up in North Waziristan have both claimed responsibility for the June 8 commando-style attack on Karachi airport, which was seen as a strategic turning point in how Pakistan tackles the insurgency, the AP reported.
In a chilling message issued in response to the offensive, the Taliban said foreign firms operating in Pakistan would bear the brunt of their revenge, according to the AP.
"We are in a state of war. Foreign businesses, airline companies and multinationals should immediately sever their ties with Pakistan or they will have only themselves to blame for any damage," said Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, the AP reported.
The army said combat aircraft destroyed six hideouts in the Shawal sector of North Waziristan, home to some of Pakistan's most feared militants and al Qaeda commanders, early on Monday, according to the AP.
"In these precise strikes, 27 terrorists were killed. There is no (civilian) population in the area," it said, the AP reported. "North Waziristan Agency has been isolated by deploying troops along its border with neighboring agencies and FATA (Federally Administrative Tribal Areas) regions to block any move of terrorists in and out of the Agency."
The army chief, Raheel Sharif, said the operation would continue until "all terrorists along with their sanctuaries" were eliminated but gave no specific timeline, according to the AP.
"The operation is not targeted against our valiant tribes of North Waziristan but against those terrorists who are holed up in the agency and have picked up arms against the state of Pakistan," an army statement on Monday quoted him as saying, the AP reported.