By DPA
Islamabad : Islamic militants in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan have demanded the withdrawal of security forces from the area before any peace talks with the government, local media reported Sunday.
A committee of pro-government tribesmen spearheading the dialogue in the remote North Waziristan district informed the political administration that the rebels were firm on their condition of force withdrawal, the Geo News channel reported.
Pakistan has been struck by a wave of bombings, mostly suicide attacks, after the government authorized a commando raid on the Lal Masjid in Islamabad earlier this month. The operation left at least 75 extremists dead.
Fighters in the rugged tribal region on Saturday claimed responsibility for the attacks, terming these a revenge for the deaths of "brothers, sisters and sons".
"Mujahideen have launched activities and have been conducting guerrilla and suicide attacks against the army and paramilitary forces," Commander Maulvi Abdul Khaliq Haqqani said in a statement published in the Dawn newspaper Sunday.
Meanwhile, security forces killed at least 13 militants who attacked checkpoints in North Waziristan, the military's chief spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
According to Arshad, seven armed fighters were also arrested during the gun battles. Two vehicles of the attackers were also destroyed.