Pakistani helicopter gunships and fighter jets on Tuesday pounded militant hideouts in a tribal region near the Afghan border, killing 11 rebels, a security official said.

The attacks took place in the Bajaur region, where Pakistani troops and militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been engaged in fierce fighting since August.

"Jets and gunships bombarded miscreants today in several areas. Eleven militants were killed and 10 others wounded," a senior Pakistani security official told AFP. There was no independent confirmation of the toll.

Pakistan army said in late September that more than 1 000 militants including al-Qaeda's operational commander in the region, Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri, have been killed in its offensive in Bajaur.

The US and Afghan governments say Islamic militants use the remote border areas of Pakistan to launch attacks on US-led and NATO troops deployed in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's tribal regions have been wracked by violence since thousands of Taliban and al-Qaeda rebels fled to the country after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

AFP