By Misbah Saba Malik
ISLAMABAD, June 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 3,500 militants and 490 soldiers were killed during the two-year armed offensive launched by Pakistani military in the country's northwest tribal area of North Waziristan, officials said.
Addressing a press briefing Wednesday on the second anniversary of the operation "Zarb-i-Azb," Lt-General Asim Bajwa, the Director General (DG) of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani army's media wing, said that the troops, backed by jets fighters, destroyed 992 militants' hideouts during the offensive.
He said that during the last two years, the army has seized 253 tons of explosives, which were enough for the militants to make Improvised Explosive Devices for at least 15 years.
The director general said 7,500 bomb-making factories were closed down in Shawal area of the Agency.
The troops have also recovered modern weapons including 35,000 rockets and mortars during the operation, he said.
"At least 3,600 square kilometer area in the North Waziristan has been cleared of the militants. Before the operation, the agency was plagued with terrorists, but now there are just the last few pockets remaining in the Shawal valley," said Bajwa.
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