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Pakistan clashes 'kill militants' Pakistan clashes 'kill militants'
(about 1 hour later)
At least 20 suspected militants have been killed in clashes across north-west Pakistan, officials say. Pakistan says its troops have killed more than 50 militants in clashes across the north-west.
The army said 15 militants were killed during clashes with troops in the Swat valley, taking the death toll there over the past few days to at least 45. The authorities said 40 insurgents had been killed in an offensive in Khyber Agency, bordering Afghanistan. Several militant bases were also destroyed.
In the Khyber Agency, bordering Afghanistan, five people died when security forces attacked militant bases, the Frontier Corps said. In fighting in Swat valley 15 militants died, bringing to 45 the number killed there since Friday, the army said. More than 100 others reportedly surrendered.
There is no independent verification of the army's claims.There is no independent verification of the army's claims.
Journalists have little access to the remote and hostile areas where the clashes are said to have taken place. Journalists have little access to the areas where the clashes are said to have taken place.
"It was very precise and we managed to kill 15 militants," Lieutenant Col Akhtar Abbas told the Reuters news agency of the army's operation in Swat. Pakistan is under US pressure to crack down on militants in the border region. There have been numerous attacks in Khyber on Nato supply convoys to Afghanistan.
Lieutenant Col Abbas told the BBC that a number of Tliban fighters had been captured during the clash and that security forces also captured a cache of arms from their hideout. Khyber's top government official Tariq Hayat Khan said 43 militants had been captured, as well as 40 killed in the military operation.
name="story"> class="bodl" href="#map">See a map of the region "It will continue till we achieve our objective and restore the writ of government," he told reporters in Peshawar.
On Monday the corpses of 30 suspected militants were found in Swat with gunshot wounds. Militants who had been arrested were paraded blindfolded before the news conference.
The army has denied accusations that troops have been carrying out extra-judicial killings in the region. It told the BBC the men were killed in an army operation. Army operations have been taking place in the Bara sub-district of Khyber. The entire area is under curfew and access to the media is restricted there.
More than 150 dead bodies have been found in the region over the past month. Troops are targeting the Lashkar-e-Islam group, which has been the subject of several offensives over the past year.
The military recently declared Mingora, Swat's main town, and other parts of the region largely free from Taliban militants after a sustained offensive against insurgents which began in April.
But on Sunday a suspected suicide bomber killed at least 14 police recruits at a training academy in Mingora.
Khyber clashes
Elsewhere, in the volatile Khyber Agency, the Frontier Corps said five militants had been killed when security forces attacked and destroyed three militant bases.
The army is conducting an operation in the Bara sub-district of Khyber.
The entire area is under curfew and access to the media is restricted there.
The operation is being conducted aganst the Lashkar-e-Islam group which has been the subject of several offensives over the past year.
But, correspondents say, the militants' grip over the area has not yet been broken.But, correspondents say, the militants' grip over the area has not yet been broken.
Last week, 22 border guards were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint in the Khyber Pass, on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.Last week, 22 border guards were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint in the Khyber Pass, on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
The blast completely destroyed a tribal police checkpoint at the Torkham border crossing linking Pakistan's North West Frontier Province to Afghanistan. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the recent surge in violence appears to be an attempt by the Taliban to demonstrate their capability to strike in the aftermath of the death of their chief, Baitullah Mehsud.
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that the recent surge in violence appears to be an attempt by the Taliban to demonstrate their capability to strike in the aftermath of the death of their chief, Baitullah Mehsud. Analysts expect more attacks from the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan after they failed to cause major disruption to last month's Afghan elections.
Analysts expected the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan to launch more spectacular attacks to make up for their failure to cause major disruptions in Afghanistan's elections last month. 'Surrender'
name="map"> The Swat valley has been the scene of a massive troop offensive since April.
class="bodl" href="#story">Click here to return Army spokesman Lt Col Akhtar Abbas told the BBC that 105 Taliban fighters had given themselves up in the Kabal area near Mingora, Swat's main town.
He said that in total 165 suspected militants, including many wanted figures, had now laid down their arms.
The army denies accusations that troops are behind extra-judicial killings in the region. More than 150 dead bodies - some with gunshot wounds, some beheaded - have been found in the past month.
The military recently declared Mingora, Swat's main town, and other parts of the region largely free from Taliban militants.
But on Sunday a suspected suicide bomber killed at least 14 police recruits who were training at a police base in Mingora.