Security forces killed 24 suspected militants in air strikes and clashes on Friday in a north-western tribal district plagued by Taliban insurgents, government officials said. One paramilitary soldier was also killed and three wounded in a clash in the town of Chinar in the district of Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan and has been the site of a number of recent military offensives.

Fighting erupted when insurgents attacked a checkpoint manned by the paramilitary Frontier Corps and members of an anti-Taliban militia, local government official Abdul Kabir told AFP. "Troops retaliated and killed 14 militants," he said. The toll was confirmed by government and security officials in the area. Later in the afternoon, fighter jets bombed a militant hideout in the town of Sewai in the nearby Mamoond area, killing 10 militants and wounding 15 others.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010