In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that since the last phase of operation Zarb-e-Azb kicked off in February, major terrorist hubs of Mana, Gurbaz, Lataka, Inzarkas and Magrotai have been cleared of the terrorists.
While, the battle now continues to clear last pocket close to Pak-Afghan border, it said, adding over 9,000 feet all heights have also been cleared during the operation.
"Terrorists' hideouts were destroyed, a cache of arms and ammunition recovered and there was virtually no communications infrastructure remaining in the Shawal area once the operation was launched in February this year", the statement added.
Since February, eight soldiers of Pakistan army lost their lives while 39 others injured in Shawal while the war, it added.
Since the beginning of the operation in June 2014, it stated that security forces have cleared 4,304 sq km in North Waziristan and restored writ of the government in all areas especially in remote pockets of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
According to ISPR, the soldiers have made 150-kilometr long tracks while conducting the operation, adding that the ongoing operation is being conducted in extremely hostile terrain under harsh weather conditions. "Operation is continuing in Shawal heights which are fully covered in snow, and visibility is very poor on and inside mountains", it added.
During the last phase of Zarb-e-Azb, the statement added, return of Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs) is progressing according to plan, as 37,012 families in North Waziristan Agency ? 36 percent of TDPs ? have returned to their homes.
The statement further said that around 94 development projects have been completed in the first and second phases in North Waziristan Agency, and 153 projects were kicked off in phase three, adding the progress on the ongoing projects was reviewed by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.
The military launched operation Zarb-e-Azb on June 15, 2014 in North Waziristan along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the wake of the June 08, 2014 attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi with subsequent failure of the peace talks with the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Since then, a significant decline has been recorded in the number of terrorist attacks. According to a data complied by Business Recorder recently from various independent sources, there was further 12.5 percent decline in terrorist incidents this year. However, according to annual security report by Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS), the number of deaths in terrorist attacks declined by 48 percent in 2015 compared to 2014.