ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said Saturday it had killed 12 Taleban militants as government troops pressed a major offensive in the South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Some 30,000 troops backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships launched a fierce air and ground offensive into the northwest region three weeks ago and the military has since claimed a series of successes.

It said troops on Friday penetrated into Makin, the hometown of slain Taleban chief Baitullah Mehsud who was killed along with some of his family members in a missile strike fired by a US drone on Aug. 5.

Security forces were also consolidating their positions at Sararogha and its surrounding heights in the rugged mountainous region, the military’s media wing said in a statement.

“In last 24 hours, 12 terrorists have been killed, and five soldiers including two officers were injured,” the statement said. Security forces also captured a 30-feet long tunnel and “plenty of ammunition has been discovered and destroyed” it said.

Meanwhile, two teachers and a student were injured Saturday when suspected militants hurled a hand grenade at a girls’ school in insurgency-hit southwestern Pakistan, police said.

The militants lobbed the grenade at a state-run junior school in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, senior police officer Khalid Manzoor said.

The grenade blew off the staff room’s roof and splinters hit two female teachers and an eight-year-old student, he said.

“The teachers had wounds to their heads but both are out of danger in the hospital,” Manzoor said, adding that the student had only minor injuries.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a separate development, Taleban militants killed three Pakistani soldiers in an assault on a checkpost in the northwest, officials said Saturday.

The militants launched a rocket and gun attack on a paramilitary post in Torawari area of Hangu district late Friday, a security official said. Three soldiers were killed in the raid, he said.

A senior police official said the attackers were Taleban militants who came from the neighboring tribal region of Kurram. Security forces based in a nearby fort responded by killing at least six attackers, police and military officials said.

The South Waziristan offensive has displaced more than 250,000 people and the United Nations has urged Pakistan to ensure safety and security of civilians during the operation.