ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's interior minister says police have made a breakthrough in the case of last week's Karachi bus attack that killed 47 Shiites, and arrested the suspected mastermind and several gunmen. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan made the announcement in Islamabad on Wednesday. He did not say when the arrests were made or provide the affiliation of the gunmen. Both a Pakistani militant group linked to the Daesh, which is fighting in Iraq and Syria, and a Pakistani Taliban splinter group have claimed responsibility for the May 13 assault. Khan says some of the arrested men confessed to taking part in the attack during which gunmen stormed a bus with the Shiites, forced them to bow their heads, then shot and killed 47 members of the Ismaili Shiite branch. Meanwhile, Pakistan's military says its jets have carried out airstrikes against five militant hideouts in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan, killing 13 militants. In a statement, the military said the strikes were carried out Wednesday near the Datta Khel village in North Waziristan where the army has been carrying out a major operation against local and foreign militants since last June. It was unclear who the dead militants were and the military gave no further details. Pakistani tribal areas are off limits to journalists. North Waziristan was once considered to be the headquarters of Pakistani Taliban, who have been trying to overthrow the government. Pakistan says it has cleared 90 percent of the region since launching the June 15 operation. — AP
