Pakistani officials say two suspected U.S. drones fired missiles at militant hideouts in the country’s northwest, killing at least seven militants.
Intelligence officials said the strikes targeted Uzbek and Punjabi Taliban hideouts in North Waziristan tribal region on December 26.
The Pakistani military says it has cleared 80 percent of North Waziristan since it launched an offensive there in June against the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups, using air strikes, artillery, mortar fire, and ground troops.
The army says it has killed more than 1,500 militants and lost 125 soldiers in the operation, but the numbers cannot be independently verified.
Pakistan has stepped up operations against the Taliban following a December 16 Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar that killed 151 people, mostly schoolchildren.