Pakistani jets kill 31 militants says officials

Pakistani warplanes pounded militant hideouts in the northwestern tribal area before dawn on Wednesday, killing at least 20 Taliban insurgents, security officials said.

Government officials say Pakistani fighter jets bombed militant positions in two different areas along the Afghan border, killing 31 suspected insurgents.

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Political administrators Wajid Khan and Ameer Gul say the strikes occurred Wednesday morning in the Orakzai and Kurram tribal areas.

It was not possible to independently confirm the information because the areas are effectively off-limits to reporters.

The strikes followed clashes between soldiers and militants over a strategic mountaintop in Kurram that killed over 60 people in the last week.

The Pakistani military has launched a series of offensives against militants in the country's semiautonomous tribal region in the past few years.