Pakistani airstrikes killed nine suspected insurgents today in a tribal region near the Afghan border.

Five Pakistani soldiers and at least 21 suspected militants were killed in clashes in a region near the Afghan border where the military is pursuing Taliban insurgents fleeing a US-backed offensive, authorities said today.

An air strike in a remote Pakistani tribal area that killed at least 17 people was targeting al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri, who may have been using a suspected terrorist hideout, a senior official said today.