By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
At least 31 suspected militants were killed in renewed Pakistani army airstrikes on militant hideouts in northwestern Pakistan near border of war-stricken Afghanistan on Saturday, army officials said.
The fresh air strikes are seen as part of accelerated sir strikes after a school siege in Peshawar city that killed over 140 people, mostly students on December 16.
The Pakistani army's media wing, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the fighter jets carried out several air strikes in the remote Tirah valley, which sits on Pakistan-Afghan border, killing 31 militants. Four militant training centers were also destroyed in air raids, it added.
Khyber Agency, one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal areas of Pakistan, has been a stronghold of Taliban-linked Lashkar-e-Islam militant group -- led by commander Mangal Bagh -- that offers tough resistance to security forces.
According to Pakistani intelligence agencies, the region is currently serving as a new bastion of fleeing militants from North Waziristan where a large-scale operation against Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a mother coalition of different insurgent groups in Pakistan, has been ongoing since June 15.
The fresh casualties have put the militants' death toll at over 2,000 since June 15. But a complete ban on media in operation-hit areas has halted the independent verification of the figures.
Around 200 soldiers have also been killed in clashes and landmine blasts in the ongoing operation.
The military operations have already forced 1.5 million tribesmen from North Waziristan, and Khyber Agency to adjacent Peshawar, Bannu, Karak, and Lakki Marwat districts.
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