Pak aerial strikes kill 23 militants

At least 23 militants, including a Taliban commander, were killed in air strikes by Pakistan security forces in the restive northwest, where the military is locked in a major campaign against Islamist extremists.
The security force targeted militant-controlled areas in Datta Khel region of North Waziristan, one of the seven tribal regions in Pakistan.
A security official said "23 militants were killed in airstrikes."
He said a local Taliban commander and foreign al-Qaeda fighters were also among those killed.
Pakistan security forces have launched major military campaigns against Taliban and foreign militants in the volatile northwest tribal region following a major assault on Karachi's international airport in June last year.

The army intensified the offencive after Taliban gunmen massacred 150 people, mostly children, in a horrific attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December.

More than 1,500 militants have been killed during the ongoing operations, officials claim.
The toll, however, could not be verified as the area is out of reach for journalists.
Pakistan also ended its six-year moratorium on the death penalty in terror-related cases in the wake of the Peshawar assault.
So far, 20 prisoners have been executed. There are more than 8,000 death row prisoners in the country.