KHAR, Nov 7: Twenty militants were killed and 10 others injured when planes and helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts in different areas of the Bajaur tribal region on Friday morning.

Officials said that troops, backed by helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, carried out attacks in Damdola, Sewai, Badan, and Sparay areas of Mamond tehsil and Charmang, Chinar, Zoorband and Banda areas of Nawagai tehsil on the basis of information about the presence of a large number of militants and some key commanders in the areas.

About 50 suspected militants were arrested and taken for interrogation.

Meanwhile, tribesmen killed in Thursday’s suicide bombing at a jirga in Batmali were buried in Salarzai area.

The death toll rose to 22 on Friday after six seriously injured people died in hospitals late on Thursday night.

Malak Fazal Karim, head of the jirga, and other tribal elders were buried in their native towns on Thursday. Thousands of tribesmen attended the funeral.

The local administration has beefed up security and additional troops have been deployed in the region. Security personnel are patrolling sensitive areas.

Medical superintendent of Khar’s AHQ Hospital Dr Tahir told reporters that 51 injured had been brought to different hospitals in Bajaur, adding that some seriously injured people had been shifted to Peshawar.

He said that samples of parts of the bomber’s body would be sent to Peshawar for DNA test.

Some of the injured people told reporters that the bomber aged between 22 and 25 appeared to be an Uzbek national. They said the man had mingled with the crowd when the jirga was being held.

Injured leaders of the jirga, including Malak Atta Khan, Malak Gul Khan and Malak Jamal Khan, said that such cowardly acts would not deter them from acting against militants. “We will continue our mission of forcing Taliban militants out of the region. The death of 22 of the three million Salarzai people would not weaken our resolve to eradicate miscreants,” they added.

They said that a tribal lashkar had been formed to secure the future of “our children and restore peace in the region”.

The Pakistani military said last month that around 1,500 militants and 73 soldiers had died while hundreds more militants were captured since the military launched an operation in Bajaur in August.