The offensive in the Orakzai tribal region is aimed at flushing out Pakistani Taleban insurgents who had fled an army onslaught further south. Government official Sami Ullah said at least 18 militants died in clashes with troops in Orakzai.
As a group of insurgents fled to the neighboring Kurram region, helicopters hit three vehicles, killing 10 more militants and wounding some others, local military commander Lt. Col. Akbar Butt said.
Orakzai is a major base for supporters of Hakimullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban's top commander, who is believed to have died in a January US missile strike near Afghanistan. The Taleban deny Mehsud is dead.
The militants have been fleeing to Orakzai and other parts of the northwest to avoid the army's offensive in the South Waziristan tribal region, long a Pakistani Taleban stronghold.
Tens of thousands of Orakzai residents have fled the area over the past few months as the military has launched airstrikes and other operations there.
Over the past 10 days, at least 10,000 civilians have moved to a camp set up by the government in the Kohat area just outside the tribal belt, said Janzeb Khan, a government official. The government is providing food and other facilities to them, he said.
Orakzai usually has a population of 450,000 and borders the tribal regions of Khyber and Kurram.
