The forces have launched security operation against the militants in tehsil Mamond of Bjaur tribal region as the jet fighters pounding over various areas of the region, sources said. Several casualties feared in airstrikes. Pakistani fighter jets bombed suspected militant hide-outs Monday in a tribal region where the military had previously declared victory over the Taliban, killing eight alleged extremists a day after a deadly siege of the army's headquarters. Monday's airstrikes were in Bajur, a separate segment of the lawless northwestern tribal belt where Pakistan waged an intense six-month offensive that wound down in February. Resurgent violence in Bajur could distract the military as it tries to focus on South Waziristan. ''This was a heavy spell of bombing, and information so far received from field informants showed at least eight bodies were recovered from the destroyed places,'' local government official Tahir Khan said. Also in Bajur on Monday, a remote-controlled bomb went off in front of the political administration office in the main city of Khar, wounding a passer-by. In addition, militants were suspected of abducting 10 tribal elders after they attended a meeting aimed at forming a citizens' militia to protect against the Taliban, said Faramosh Khan, another local official. The U.S. has long pushed Islamabad to take more action against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, who are also blamed for attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, and the army carried out a successful campaign against the militants in the northwestern Swat Valley in the spring. But the army had been unwilling to go all-out in the lawless tribal areas along the border that serve as the Taliban's main refuge. Three offensives into South Waziristan since 2001 ended in failure, and the government signed peace deals with the militants. In the wake of the seige in Rawalpindi, the government said it would not be deterred. The military launched two airstrikes Sunday evening on suspected militant targets in South Waziristan, killing at least five insurgents and ending a five-day lull in attacks there, intelligence officials said. ''We are going to attack the terrorists, the miscreants over there who are disturbing the state and damaging the peace,'' Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said. ''Wherever they will be, we will follow them. We will pursue them. We will take them to task.'' Officials have warned that Taliban fighters close to the border, Punjabi militants spread out across the country and foreign al-Qaida operatives were increasingly joining forces, dramatically increasing the dangers to Pakistan.