PARACHINAR: Security forces killed 38 militants in two separate operations on Sunday in an area near the Afghan border where the army recently launched an offensive targeting the Pakistani Taliban, a local official said. The offensive in the Orakzai tribal area is the latest push by the Pakistani army to rout the Islamist extremists.

Many Taliban fighters fled to the rugged, mountainous region last year after a separate operation in nearby South Waziristan.