PESHAWAR: Five militants were reportedly killed on Saturday in an assault by fighter jets in the northwestern Khyber tribal region, DawnNews reported.

Two insurgent hideouts were also destroyed in the assault in the tribal region's Sarawela area, DawnNews quoted government sources as saying.

The casualty figures from the reported action could not be independently verified.

Sources further said that the operation in the region had picked up pace since Friday's clash with militants from the Kokikhel tribe.

In another incident in the tribal region's Zakhakhel region in Tirah, volunteers from the local Tauhidul Islam organisation detained a would-be suicide bomber.

The detained would-be bomber was planning to target a camp of the FC in Khyber.

Pakistan’s seven tribal districts near the Afghan border are rife with homegrown insurgents and are alleged to be strongholds of Taliban and al Qaeda operatives.

Militants have killed more than 4,800 people across Pakistan since July 2007.