KHAR, Pakistan, Nov 21, 2008 (AFP) - Pakistani fighter jets killed 14 Taliban militants Friday when they bombarded hideouts in a restive northwest tribal area, officials said.

The rebels were killed in two areas of Bajaur district, part of the troubled region bordering Afghanistan, local government official Mohammad Jamil said.

"The airstrike killed 14 militants and wounded 10 others," Jamil told AFP.

It was not immediately possible to independently verify the death toll.

Pakistan's army also claimed Wednesday it killed 17 militants, including two Uzbeks, as part of its ongoing offensive in Bajaur.

The country's northwestern tribal belt became a stronghold for hundreds of extremists who fled Afghanistan after a US-led invasion toppled the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.

The Pakistani military is fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Bajaur, where officials say more than 1,500 rebels have been killed and hundreds more captured since August.