ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- The death toll from airstrikes by Pakistani jet fighters in the country's tribal region has risen to 60, two military officials said.
The attacks hit three villages in the Tirah Valley of Khyber province, one of several districts in the country's tribal region, CNN reported Wednesday.
Pakistani military officials and a local political official offered conflicting accounts of the attacks on suspected militants, with the local official saying at least some of the dead were civilians.
Two military officials told CNN at least 30 suspected members of the militant group Lashkar-e-Islam were among those killed in the aerial attacks that targeted militant hideouts, illegal radio stations, training centers and vehicles rigged for suicide attacks.
However, a local political official told CNN nine of the dead were civilians, including three children.
The Tirah Valley area is considered a stronghold of Lashkar-i-Islam, an anti-government militant group. The region has witnessed numerous militant attacks against trucks transporting U.S. and NATO military supplies. The main supply route for international forces in Afghanistan runs through Khyber.
