PESHAWAR: A top Uzbek militant commander and 17 other terrorists were killed in fresh air strikes in Khyber Agency while 10 militants were gunned down in a ground action at Malak Shaga Nullah on Thursday, military officials said.

According to a spokesman of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), 17 terrorists including an Uzbel commander, Islamud Din were killed in the evening’s air strikes in Khyber Agency.

Separately, security forces killed 10 militants in a ground offensive in Bajaur district (around 125 miles northwest of Peshawar).

“In a ground action by security forces at Malak Shaga Nullah near Warwandu Mella and Hossai Nullah 10 terrorists were killed, two were seriously injured while 6-8 managed to escape,” a senior security official told AFP.

He said two security personnel were wounded and others were chasing the fleeing militants.

The details, however, could not be independently verified due to restricted access for journalists in the area.

Earlier in the day, a road-side bomb killed three Frontier Corps soldiers near in Damadola area of the tribal district.

On Tuesday, a team of Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar, slaughtering 148 people, including 132 children, in the country's deadliest ever terror attack.

The Pakistani Taliban said the assault was revenge for the killing of its fighters and their families in ongoing military operation Zarb-i-Azb against its hideouts in the North Waziristan tribal area, and warned more attacks would follow.

Pakistan has been battling militants in its semi-autonomous tribal belt since 2004, after its army entered the region to search for Al Qaeda fighters who had fled across the border following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.