PESHAWAR: At least seven suspected militants were killed early on Wednesday when army jets pounded militant hideouts in the northwestern tribal regions of Orakzai and Khyber.

Upper Orakzai's assistant political agent Muhammad Rafique told Dawn.com that three militant hideouts were destroyed in the bombardment, adding that seven militants had reportedly been killed in the strikes.

The jets struck suspected militant hideouts in the Ublan area of Orakzai tribal region and near the Khyber tribal region's border with Orakzai.

Earlier on Tuesday, security agencies had claimed to have killed 33 militants affiliated to the outlawed Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in multiple jet strikes conducted in the remote Tirah valley of Khyber and in the Mamozai area of Orakzai.

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