Helicopter gunships attacked hideouts on Sunday in a tribal area near the border with Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 14 suspected militants, military sources said.
Ten suspected militants were injured in the operations in two areas of the Orakzai tribal agency. The casualty figures provided by the military could not be independently verified and militants often dispute official accounts. Pakistan's army and air force have been conducting operations against militants in Orakzai and the neighbouring Kurram tribal region since the beginning of the year. The Pakistan Taliban, al Qaeda and other militant groups fighting Western forces in Afghanistan are entrenched in north-western tribal areas. A series of military offensives have failed to clear the region.