( AP ) - Militants attacked a military base near the Afghan border Thursday, sparking a battle that drew in army helicopters and left about 50 insurgents and two soldiers dead, the army said.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said eight soldiers were wounded in the fighting near Razmak, a town in the South Waziristan region where pro-Taliban militants hold sway.
It was not possible to independently confirm the casualties from the fighting that raged as visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte met with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad.
Pakistan, under growing U.S. pressure to crack down on Taliban and al-Qaida in its border regions, reported Wednesday that it had killed about 40 militants in the North Waziristan region.
Arshad said army forces repelled repeated militant attacks Thursday in Razmak. Army helicopters and ground fire destroyed four rebel positions, he said.
Arshad said their initial estimate was that at least 30 militants were killed, but added later that tribesmen informed officials that as many as 50 insurgents had died in the military attack.
A militant rocket hit a transformer and power line, cutting electricity in Razmak, he said.
But he denied reports from three intelligence officials who said 10 soldiers had been killed in the fighting. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
One of the intelligence officials told The Associated Press that another four to six soldiers were missing after the attack on the Nawaz Fort base. He said helicopter gunships had joined the battle, which began at 1 a.m. and was continuing late Thursday morning.
Fighting between Islamic militants and security forces has been raging across northwest Pakistan since the army assailed a radical mosque in the capital, Islamabad, in July. Most of the combat has taken place in the rugged mountains along the Afghan frontier, where Taliban and al-Qaida militants appear to be gaining strength.
Pakistan also has witnessed several suicide attacks in otherwise peaceful areas, including two blasts on Sept. 4 that killed 25 people and wounded more than 60 in Rawalpindi, where the army has its headquarters.
U.S. officials have welcomed signs that Musharraf, who is currently seeking a new five-year term, is taking a tougher line.
"There is no doubt whatsoever of Pakistan's commitment to restoring and establishing security in that part of the country and more than doing its share in the war against terror," Negroponte said Wednesday.
A statement issued by Musharraf's office Thursday after the visiting envoy met the president said the U.S. had committed $750 million for the development of Pakistan's tribal regions over five years.
The army says it has deployed 90,000 troops in the border region in an attempt to curtail militancy and stop guerrillas from crossing into Afghanistan to attack NATO forces.
But the military had scaled back its operations under disputed peace deals signed last year, and there is growing alarm that extremists have used the breathing space to exert control over ever-greater areas of North West Frontier Province.
Militants are currently holding hostage some 260 soldiers seized in South Waziristan on Aug. 30 and are waging a morality campaign reminiscent of the former ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Extremists are pressuring shopkeepers in the region not to sell music or movies and barbers not to trim beards or face punishment for encouraging behavior they consider un-Islamic.
In the latest incident, a bomb planted in a market near the city of Kohat destroyed six stores selling music CDs, two tailor shops and one barber shop before dawn on Thursday, local police officer Anwar Khan said. No one was reported hurt.