Security operation kills 6 militants in northern Pakistan

Security forces operations in a northern Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan killed at least six suspected militants and wounded twelve others on Thursday, said officials. According to security officials, forces raided two hotels in the country's Mir Ali area of restive North Waziristan tribal district, a day after a suicide attack on a military checkpoint that killed five soldiers and wounded 25 others. A local security official in a press statement said, "Pakistani security forces raided two hotels in the area close to the site of the suicide bombing and intense gun battles left six suspected militants dead and 12 others wounded." The official added that Pakistani troops cordoned off the area and carried out a search operation to hunt down militants involved in the truck suicide bombing. North Waziristan is one of the seven Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) districts and has been plagued by militant insurgency for many years. The militants targeted government installations and security men quite frequently in the area, and the recent suicide attack came just a day after the Cabinet's Committee on National Security reaffirmed the government's commitment to the strategy of carrying out negotiations with the militants and considering use of other options only as a last resort. Earlier, the Pakistan Government has offered peace talks to militants, but the process was halted after a drone strike killed the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan commander, Hakeem Ullah Mehsud.