Civilians including many children died in an overnight airstrike in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, media reports said. Heartbreaking photos from the village that was struck by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) using LS-6 bombs showed children lying dead on cots. Adult victims were also laid down on cots with their faces covered with blankets and bedsheets, videos shared on social media showed.
The JF-17 fighter jets were used to drop at least eight LS-6 bombs on the village, unconfirmed reports said. Almost all victims were civilians who were in their houses when the fighter jets unleashed hell over them, local media reports said. Some of the images from ground zero reminded of the atrocities conducted by Israel in Gaza.
Some media reports identified the village that was struck by the Pakistan Air Force as Matre Dara village located in the Tirah Valley. According to reports, scores of villagers were hurt in the bombing. THE WEEK couldn't independantly verify the cliaims or the authenticity of the videos.
The incident comes only days after reports had claimed that terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) was considering shifting its base to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in an effort to stay clear of India's long-range weapons.
Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan had claimed to have taken out seven militants belonging to the banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan during an intelligence-based operation in the province. he operation was conducted on Saturday in Dera Ismail Khan district bordering South Waziristan after the presence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants was reported.
Among the seven eliminated by the security forces, three were Afghan nationals and two suicide bombers, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the army, said in a statement.
Earlier, on September 13-14, at least 31 TTP militants were killed in two separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week had said that Afghanistan must choose between siding with terrorists or standing with Pakistan.Pakistan has lately been witnessing a rise in terrorist activities, mainly in provinces bordering Afghanistan.