Pakistani warplanes resumed strikes against militant hideouts in South Waziristan on Saturday, security officials said, with more than 30 pro-Taliban fighters killed in the Afghan border tribal region in the past 24 hours.

After nearly ending Swat Valley operation in the past month, the military plans to extend its offensive to South Waziristan against the main stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

A full-scale offensive has not yet begun in South Waziristan but fighter jets have attcked "targets" for the past several days.

Our jet fighters bombed and destroyed "two militant hideouts" in Maula Khan Sarai, a security official in the region said, referring to an area east of South Waziristan's main town of Wana.

He gave no other details but an intelligence official said 15 fighters were killed in those strikes.

On Friday, jet fighters killed more than 30 fighters in attacks in the South Waziristan villages of Barwand, Sarwaki and Kundsari, said security officials who asked not be identified.

The military was not available for comment on those incidents and there was no independent verification of the casualties.

In a statement released on Saturday, the military said 32 insurgents were killed in the towns of Tanai and Sarwaki in South Waziristan.

It was not immediately clear if those insurgent casualties were separate to those in Friday's air strikes.

Pakistani troops are near the end of the offensive, launched in late April, in the Swat valley and surrounding areas northwest of Islamabad.

About 2 million people have fled the offensive in northwest Pakistan. The exodus grew with the start of the Swat campaign and the fear of more abandoning their homes with new offensive in Waziristan will be added to the already humanitarian crisis.


Reuters