At least 45 people have been killed in air strikes targeting militants in north-western Pakistan, security officials said.
Militants' family members were among those killed in the raids in the Khyber tribal district, said the officials.
Pakistani jet fighters pounded targets in the Tirah valley from which suicide attacks were being prepared, according to the officials.
Pakistan has stepped up strikes near the Afghan border in recent months.
'Human shields'
Three strikes on Tuesday night destroyed militant hideouts and vehicles which were being prepared for suicide attacks in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to officials. A militant training centre and an illegal radio station were also said to have been hit.
Rehan Khattak, a senior government official in Khyber, told Reuters news agency that six civilians, including women and children, were killed in one of the strikes.
A senior security official told news agency AFP: "Militants were using civilians and their families as human shields and there could be some civilian casualties but we do not know how many."
In April, dozens of civilians were killed in an air raid in Tirah after they were mistaken for Taliban. The head of the army made a rare public apology for those deaths.
Pakistani jet fighters pounded targets in the Tirah valley from which suicide attacks were being prepared, according to the officials.
Pakistan has stepped up strikes near the Afghan border in recent months.
'Human shields'
Three strikes on Tuesday night destroyed militant hideouts and vehicles which were being prepared for suicide attacks in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to officials. A militant training centre and an illegal radio station were also said to have been hit.
Rehan Khattak, a senior government official in Khyber, told Reuters news agency that six civilians, including women and children, were killed in one of the strikes.
A senior security official told news agency AFP: "Militants were using civilians and their families as human shields and there could be some civilian casualties but we do not know how many."
In April, dozens of civilians were killed in an air raid in Tirah after they were mistaken for Taliban. The head of the army made a rare public apology for those deaths.
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