A file photo of a JF-17 Thunder fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force taking off from Mushaf base in Sargodha, north of Pakistan.

Pakistan’s army says its warplanes have killed 31 militants as part of an ongoing operation in a troubled tribal region near the Afghan border.

An army statement says the airstrikes on Friday evening in the Tirrah valley of the Khyber region destroyed four militant hideouts and a suicide bomber training center.

The army says it has killed over 1,200 militants since a massive offensive launched June 15, 2014 in North Waziristan, another rugged tribal region along the border.

A parallel operation is taking place in neighboring Khyber to pursue militants fleeing from North Waziristan. Last month’s school massacre in Peshawar — in which 150 people were killed, mainly children — is believed to have been launched from Khyber.

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