Pakistan's military said Thursday that airstrikes in a northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border have killed 43 militants, The Hindu reported.

The military said in a statement that the militants were killed on Thursday in two villages of the North Waziristan tribal region. It gave no details about the identities or nationalities of the slain militants.

The information could not be corroborated as journalists are barred from tribal areas.

The Pakistani army has been carrying out a major military operation in North Waziristan since June 2014 to eliminate local and foreign militants.

Since then, the military says it has cleared more than 90 per cent of North Waziristan and killed about 3,000 militants.