At least 22 Taliban militants were killed and scores wounded as Pakistani war planes kept up their relentless strikes on the bases of Tehrik-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in Waziristan, while police shot dead five other radicals in Karachi.

“Two Pakistani jets straffed bases run by commanders closely linked to Baitullah Mehsud in Makeen and Ladha, killing 12 to 15 militants and wounding another 17,” an Army statement said.

Pakistan Air Force fighters have been carrying out heavy air raids on major towns and on Taliban concentrations in South Waziristan as a softening of tactics before unleashing a major ground offensive targetted to get Mehsud and other high-value militants of Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Five more suspected Taliban militants were shot dead by police in a midnight raid on the outskirts of Karachi.

“Police surrounded the house where the militants were hiding and asked them to surrender,” a spokesman of the city police said.

“The militants opened fire, which was retaliated by the police in which five militants with suspected links to Baitullah were killed,” he said. Later, the spokesman said, the militants were apparently plotting large scale suicide bombings in the city.

In Wanna, militants fired six rockets at a para-military fort, an official said. The security forces in turn shelled Taliban positions near the town killing two militants and injuring three others.