Pakistan's army claimed on Wednesday it had killed at least
eight pro-Taliban militants, including two important commanders, in the
troubled north-western valley of Swat, dpa reported.
Security forces targeted several militants' positions in Khwazakhela area of
the district, army spokesman Major Murad Khan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
"Eight insurgents and their two important commanders, Sher Mohammad and
Mohammad Saeed, were killed in the security action," he said.
Swat, formerly a popular tourist destination in the North-West Frontier
Province, has seen a rise in violence since October 2007 when government troops
launched an offensive against the loyalists of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
He had waged an armed struggle to enforce strict Taliban-style Islamic laws in
the region. Hundreds of Islamist militants and dozens of soldiers have died in
the months-long clashes.
Separately, media reports said that helicopter gunships and artillery pounded
militants' hideouts in tribal district of Bajaur, which is believed to have
safe-havens for Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters launching cross border attacks on
US-led international forces in Afghanistan.
Twenty-two militants were killed and numerous injured in the action, Geo news
channel reported.
But the report could not be officially confirmed. "We do not have any such
information on Bajaur so far," Major Murad said.