LANDI KOTAL, Feb 24: At least seven militants were killed and some of their hideouts destroyed in air strikes and a clash in Tirah and Bara areas of Khyber Agency on Sunday.

Officials said that fighter planes bombed Taliban positions in Kukikhel area of Tirah.

The aerial bombing resulted in killing of four Taliban and destruction of three of their hideouts in Sra Vella and surrounding localities, officials claimed.

In Bara, security forces conducted a day long search operation in Nala and Arjali Nadi localities.

Officials said that in a shootout with militants in Nala, three activists of Lashkar-i-Islam were killed as the forces made advances into the area.

At Arjali Nadi, according to local sources, militants torched two military vehicles before they broke the cordon of security forces.

They said that militants put up some fierce resistance at Arjali Nadi before fleeing the area.

At Torkham, border guards apprehended an Afghan national and recovered from his possession five kilogrammes of gold and some foreign currency.