PESHAWAR: Pakistan police and security sources said aerial bombing in a remote border region killed at least 23 civilians on Monday in an area where militancy has been rising.
Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militants have in recent months stepped up a campaign of violence against security forces in the mountainous areas of Khyber Pakhtunkwa province that border Afghanistan.
Both MPs are members of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party which controls Khyber Pakhtunkwa province. A senior police officer stationed in the town of Tirah told AFP that seven women and four children were among the 23 dead, without saying who carried out at the assault.
A security officer based in Peshawar, who confirmed the death toll, said there are “dozens of TTP hideouts” in the area where militants reside with their families. He also refused to say who had carried out the assault.