PESHAWAR: Twenty-one suspected militants, eight Uzbek nationals among them, were 1(illed in air strikes and artillery shelling in North Waziristan on Thursday and Wednesday night, sources said.

They said military planes pounded militants` hideouts in Kaza, Sunzali and Macha Madakhel near the Afghan border.

The airstrikes which started at 9am on Thursday left 18 militants, including eight Uzbeks, dead. Nine of them belonged to Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, they added.

Three hideouts were destroyed.

On Wednesday night, security forces fired artil1ery shells on suspected positions from the main fort in Dattakhel, killing three militants.

Dattakhel Bazaar has been under curfew since Tuesday.

A resident told this correspondent that 50 trucks loaded with fresh fruits were stranded on other side of the border because of curfew restrictions. He said security forces had closed Argon route and trucks could not enter Waziristan.