PESHAWAR: At least 12 suspected militants were killed and eight others were injured in airstrikes conducted by military jets in Khyber Agency's Tirah Valley on Saturday.

According to security sources, military jets and helicopters targeted militant hideouts in Tirah Valley's Kokikhel area.

Twelve militants were killed and eight others were reportedly injured in the air sorties which destroyed targeted insurgent hideouts.

Also read: Pakistan Army battles Taliban for strategic Tirah Valley

Khyber is one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous regions governed by tribal laws and lies near the Afghan border. The Tirah Valley in the region is home to militants from the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and an allied group called Lashkar-i-Islam.

The airstrikes come amid the ongoing Khyber-2 operation launched by the army in the tribal region and are part of the military's stepped-up efforts since a militant attack in Dec 2014 killed 150 people, mostly children, at Peshawar's Army Public School.

The Peshawar incident came months after the army launched Zarb-i-Azb, a grand operation in the North Waziristan tribal region, following a Taliban-claimed attack on the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.

Since the beginning of Zarb-i-Azb, militants have fled to other tribal regions, including to Khyber and its Tirah Valley that borders Afghanistan. They appear to be moving across the border and seem to operate from both sides of the Durand Line.

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