Pakistani jets and ground forces killed 77 militants in a northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said on Friday, days after Taliban fighters killed 148 people — most of them children — in a school massacre.

The military said its ground forces killed 10 militants while airstrikes killed another 17, including an Uzbek commander late on Thursday night.

Another 32 alleged terrorists were killed by security forces in an ambush in Tirah valley in Khyber on Friday as they headed toward the Afghan border, the military said.

On Friday morning, troops killed 18 more militants during a 'cordon and search operation' in Khyber, the military said.

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Retaliation: The Pakistani military killed 67 Taliban militants in air strikes and ground assaulkts in response to the school massacre atrocity

The military said the army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, was traveling to Khyber Friday to meet with troops taking part in the ground operation.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani prosecutor said the government will try to cancel the bail granted to the main suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks — a decision that outraged neighbouring India and called into question Pakistan's commitment to fighting militancy.

The violence at a school in Pakistan's northwest earlier this week stunned the country and brought cries for retribution. In the wake of the mass killing the military has struck targets in the Khyber tribal region and approved the death penalty for six convicted terrorists.

Macabre: Pakistani Frontier Corps personnel look at bodies of militants who were killed in a military operation in Tirah, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border

Pakistani security forces killed at least 67 suspected militants as operations against insurgents intensify in the wake of a Taliban school massacre that killed 149 people

On Friday morning, troops killed 18 more militants during a 'cordon and search operation' in Khyber, the military said.

Khyber agency is one of two main areas in the northwest where the military has been trying to root out militants in recent months. Khyber borders Peshawar, where the school massacre happened, and militants have traditionally attacked the city before fleeing into the tribal region where police can't chase them.

The other area is North Waziristan, where the military launched a massive operation in June.

In the southern province of Baluchistan, Pakistani security forces killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader along with seven of his associates in three separate pre-dawn raids, said a tribal police officer, Ali Ahmed.

A Pakistani army soldier stands guard outside the Army Public School in Peshawar. Pakistani forces have intensified their offensive against Islamist militants

Special forces: The military said its ground forces late Thursday killed 10 militants in the Khyber region of Pakistan while another 32 alleged terrorists were killed by security forces in an ambush in Tirah valley as they headed toward the Afghan border

Airstrikes: Pakistani jets killed another 17 militants, including an Uzbek commander, in strikes on the Khyber region of the country (stock image of Pakistan Air Force F-16 war planes during a training mission)

Retribution: The violence at a school (pictured) in Pakistan's northwest earlier this week stunned the country and brought cries for retribution

Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif signed death warrants of six 'hard core terrorists' convicted and sentenced to death by military courts, the army said.

It was unclear when the military planned to hang the six men, but authorities generally move quickly once death warrants are signed. Such executions are usually carried out at prisons under the supervision of army officers and then the bodies are handed over to relatives for burial.

There was no information on the men or the crimes for which they were convicted.

The news came after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday announced that he would lift a moratorium on executions in terrorism-related cases. The government has not yet carried out any executions.

Evil: Taliban fighters who allegedly stormed an army-run school in Peshawar pose for a picture before carrying out the atrocity. The death warrants of six 'hard core terrorists' convicted and sentenced to death by military courts were also signed

Controversy: Meanwhile, a Pakistani prosecutor said the government will try to cancel the bail granted to Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi (centre), the main suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks

The lifting of the moratorium was aimed at demonstrating the government's resolve. But the decision by an anti-terrorism court Thursday to grant bail to the main suspect in the Mumbai attack, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, called into question that commitment.

Lakhvi is one of seven people on trial in Pakistan for the assault, but the trial has produced no results so far. It has been closed to the media.

India reacted with outrage to news of Lakhvi's pending release.