Pakistan kills 77 in response to massacre

Pakistani jets and ground forces have killed at least 77 militants in a north-western tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, just days after Taliban fighters killed 148 people in a school massacre.

The violence at a school in Pakistan’s north-west earlier this week stunned the country and brought cries for retribution.

In the wake of the mass killing the military has struck targets in the Khyber tribal region and approved the death penalty for six convicted terrorists.

The military said its ground forces killed 10 militants on Thursday night while air strikes killed another 17, including an Uzbek commander.

Another 32 alleged terrorists were killed by security forces in an ambush in Tirah valley in Khyber on Friday as they headed towards the Afghan border, the military said.