MIRAMSHAH/PESHAWAR, July 15: US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan killed 24 militants and destroyed two vehicles in the Lawara Mandi area of North Waziristan Agency on Thursday night.

Pakistani security forces also carried out search operation in the remote Lawara Mandi and arrested seven suspects on Friday.

The Director-General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, confirmed that militants’ bodies were found inside the Pakistani territory and were taken into custody. “We presumed they were trying to escape into the Pakistani area when they were hit by coalition forces,” Mr Sultan told Dawn by phone from Islamabad.

He said that identity of all the 24 dead and the seven suspected militants had not been established and their bodies had been shifted.

“I cannot say about the origin of the deceased,” Mr Sultan said when asked whether any Pakistani was among the dead. He said coalition troops informed Pakistani security forces before their chasing operation on this side of the border.

The government had closed camps of Afghan refugees in the North Waziristan Agency in a bid to curtail alleged infiltration of militants from Pakistani area to Afghanistan.

Sources said that two US bombers violated Pakistan’s air space and dropped three bombs near Lawara Mandi, but did not cause any life or property loss.

Reports said that suspected Taliban attacked a military post inside Afghanistan’s troubled Paktika province on Thursday night.

Militants hit a military post in Pipali area close to Lawara Mandi, which was jointly manned by the allied and Afghan troops. According to unconfirmed reports two soldiers were killed in the late night attack.

Coalition forces, backed by fighter planes and helicopters, launched counter offensive and fired heavy weapons.

Residents of Lawara Mandi said that 24 bodies were found near Adam Koot checkpoint inside Pakistani territory. The bodies and seven arrested people were transported in helicopters to some unidentified location.

A senior military officer had also given 24-hour deadline to tribesmen in the North Waziristan Agency on Thursday to catch suspects who killed one soldier and wounded four others and expel foreign militants from the area.

AFP adds: Mr Sultan told a private TV channel that Pakistan would investigate whether troops from the 18,000-strong US-led coalition in Afghanistan had violated Pakistani airspace or land borders.

“Coalition forces had informed us about an operation against the anti-coalition militia and our troops were on stand-by also,” he said and added: “When the firing was over our troops searched the area and found 24 bodies and two twin-cabin vehicles. There was no firing from our side, our troops were just patrolling and stood alert.”

Arshad Sharif from Islamabad adds: The director-general of the ISPR dismissed the possibility of handing over the bodies to the US-led coalition forces as preliminary investigations were being conducted by Pakistani authorities.

He said the militants were killed inside the Pakistani territory.

Mr Sultan said that Pakistani troops had taken positions on receiving information that some militants were trying to enter Pakistan. “We alerted our troops to stop anyone from entering into Pakistani territory,” he said.

He said that Pakistani troops did not kill the militants who were targeted at some stage on Thursday night by the US-led coalition forces.