Earlier, Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Kayani, had offered his apologies to a local tribe over the deaths of civilians during military action in Khyber last week.
Military and political officials initially said at least 42 militants were killed in a gunfight and air strike in the Tirah valley of the Khyber tribal district, where Pakistani jets targeted local Islamist militants last Saturday.
But tribesmen later said dozens of civilians were among the dead and the military on Saturday released a rare public apology over the deaths.
Kayani apologised to the Kukikhel tribe over the "unfortunate incident" last Saturday "which resulted in loss of precious and innocent civilian lives," said the statement.
"He offered his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The chief of army staff stated that he has ordered measures to avoid reoccurrence of such incidents in future," it added.
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