PESHAWAR: At least 25 suspected militants were killed early on Tuesday as F-16 jets bombed militant hideouts in the Tirah valley along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, military sources said.

Military jets targeted nine suspected insurgent hideouts in various parts of the Kokikhel area in Tirah valley of the Khyber tribal region, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed.

Pakistani fighter jets have been pounding targets in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) for the past couple of weeks.

The air strikes are the latest in a succession of such attacks carried out by the Pakistani military in the tribal belt this year.

The last were carried out in North Waziristan in late May, killing at least 75 people and causing some 58,000 people to flee from the district in fear of a fuller ground offensive that has been anticipated for years.

The Khyber district itself was targeted previously in April in aerial bombing that killed 37 people.

The district is believed to be home to several militant factions, most notably Lashkar-i-Islam, led by warlord Mangal Bagh, as well foreign fighters from Central Asia.