Pakistani fighter jets launched air strikes early Sunday against militant hideouts in the country’s troubled northwest, killing more than 80 insurgents

Pakistani fighter jets launched air strikes early Sunday against militant hideouts in the country's troubled northwest, killing more than 80 insurgents, the Pakistan military said.

However local security officials put the death toll far higher, saying that about 150 militants died in the air strikes, which primarily targeted Uzbek fighters in a remote area of tribal North Waziristan.

Among the dead were insurgents linked to last Monday's all-night siege of Karachi airport that killed 38 people, including 10 attackers, and all but destroyed a tentative peace process between the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and the  government.

However, the military statement said "an ammunition dump had also been destroyed during the strikes and that further details would follow", suggesting the death toll could rise.

The mountainous Dehgan area, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) west of the main town of Miranshah in North Waziristan, is a stronghold for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants on the border with Afghanistan.