[Dawn] Pakistan's military on Friday killed 20 insurgents and destroyed hideouts in northwest regions where they are pressing an ambitious offensive against the Taliban, officials said.Armed forces this year launched multiple operations across the northwest tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban and a haven for Al-Qaeda fighters and other militants.
In Orakzai district in the centre of the tribal belt, nine militants were killed and two hideouts destroyed in airstrikes on the villages of Ghiljo and Mamoonzai, paramilitary force spokesman major Fazalur Rehman told AFP.
The UN said Friday that more than 40,000 civilians had fled the military operation in Orakzai and were in need of humanitarian assistance.
In neighbouring Khyber district, which is on the main land route to Afghanistan, seven militants were killed in a shoot-out with Pakistani troops at Shalobar village, officials in the area said.
Separately, in northwestern Swat valley outside the tribal belt but also the focus of a military offensive, troops killed four militants.
They included a man named as a local militant commander, Bacha Akbar, military spokesman Major Mushtaq Khan told AFP.
The army claims to have cleared Swat valley of the militant threat in a spring offensive, although sporadic militant attacks and clashes continue.