Pakistan's military said it killed 35 militants in fresh air strikes early Sunday as part of a major offensive against the Taliban and other insurgents in the northwest.

Officials said the air attacks were mounted in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan tribal district, which borders Afghanistan.

"In precise aerial strikes 35 terrorists including some foreigners were killed today..." a military statement said.

Pakistani officials refer to Arab and Central Asian militants as "foreigners". They sought sanctuary in tribal areas after fleeing the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The conflict zone is off-limits to journalists, so there is no way to independently verify the number and identity of those killed.

Pakistan began a long-awaited push to clear insurgent bases from North Waziristan last June after a bloody Taliban attack on Karachi airport finally sank faltering peace talks.

Air strikes, artillery, mortars and ground troops have all been used to retake territory.

The army has intensified its offensive since the Taliban's massacre of 150 people, 134 of them children, in a school in Peshawar in December.

Pakistan described the carnage as its own "mini 9/11" and a game-changer in the fight against extremism.

It ended its six-year moratorium on the death penalty in terror cases in the wake of the slaughter at an army-run school.

Twenty convicted militants have since been hanged.

The semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border have for years been a hideout for Islamist militants of all stripes -- including Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban as well as foreign fighters such as Uzbeks and Uighurs.