At least 16 militants were killed on Friday as Pakistani forces bombarded several suspected Taliban hideouts in a restive northwest tribal region known as a safe haven for militants, officials said.

Jets pounded the towns of Damadola, Sewai and Sipra in Bajaur district where Pakistani forces have clashed with Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants for the past three months, local administration official Jamil Khan told AFP.

"Details of the casualties are coming in," he said.

Another security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 16 Taliban militants were killed. The toll may rise as the jets repeatedly bombed the suspected bases, he added.

At least 14 people were killed in Pakistani air strikes in Bajaur on Thursday and 15 extremists died in similar raids on Wednesday, according to local officials.

Security officials said the bombing campaign has been stepped up as land forces were planning a ground offensive in these towns where militants are said to have underground bunkers.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of government-backed tribal elders on Thursday, killing 22 and injuring dozens more.

Pakistan's tribal belt became a safe haven for hundreds of extremists who fled Afghanistan after the US-led toppling of the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001 and have since set up training camps.

Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri escaped a CIA Predator raid in Damadola in January 2004, Pakistani officials have said.

Egyptian-born Zawahiri, who has a 25-million-dollar US bounty on his head, is said to have secretly visited the area in the past, according to Pakistani security officials.

The Pakistani military said last month that around 1 500 rebels and 73 soldiers had died while hundreds more militants were captured since the military launched an operation in Bajaur in August.

AFP