TEMPO.CO, Islamabad - At least 16 people were killed while 15 others were injured in an airstrike launched by Pakistan against a suspected terrorist hideouts in the Khyber tribal area on Thursday, April 24, 2014. The airstrike targeted members of armed groups involved in recent attacks, including the bombing of a fruit market in Islamabad on April 9 and the killing of security forces in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
"[The airstrike] comes one day after the government and the Pakistani Taliban met in Islamabad to discuss a stuttering peace process," a source from the military told Al Jazeera.
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) announced on April 16 that it would not be extending the ceasefire against the state and civilians. A senior military official in Peshawar told the Reuters news agency that the air raids were the first phase of an offensive against rebels in the Khyber area. "After the jets, Pakistan army ground forces also launched operations in the area," the official said.
