By Aamir Latif
KARACHI
Renewed air strikes on militants hideouts in the northwestern Khyber Agency tribal region, killing at least 11 suspected militants, according to the Pakistan army's media wing Inter Services Public Relations.
The army targeted the Tirah valley, an area near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border which has become a stronghold for militants fleeing army operations in the nearby North Waziristan tribal area, a senior military official told the Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.
The fresh casualties take the militants' death toll to nearly 1500 since June 15, when the army launched its anti-militant operations in North Waziristan to eliminate the Pakistani Taliban's mother organization, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and its affiliates.
The figures cannot be independently verified as the media is not allowed to visit operation-hit areas.
Over 100 soldiers have also been killed in clashes and landmine blasts in the ongoing operation.
The military operations have already forced over a million tribesmen from North Waziristan and Khyber Agency to the adjacent Peshawar, Bannu, Karak, and Lakki Marwat districts.
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