MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan officials said Wednesday that dozens of militants were killed in various clashes in the country's restive northwest near the border with Afghanistan.
In the most serious incident, 15 fighters and six Pakistan troops died in an ambush on a military convoy and a subsequent firefight in the North Waziristan tribal district, the military said.
Local officials said the soldiers were en route from Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, when suspected pro-Taliban militants attacked them.
"First a bomb planted on the roadside exploded when the convoy was passing through the area. After that, militants hiding on both sides of the road fired rockets at them," a local official said on condition of anonymity.
Troops then opened fire on the attackers and a firefight ensued.
"Fifteen militants were killed and six soldiers embraced martyrdom," Pakistan military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP.
Earlier in the day militants struck twice at military convoys in the area with remote-controlled bombs, leaving six soldiers wounded, local security officials said. At least four were said to be in serious condition.
Meanwhile in the valley of Swat, officials said, Pakistani troops killed 20 militants during an ongoing offensive -- while 20 supporters of a hardline cleric in the region were also killed late Monday.
Troops pounded suspected hideouts in the valley's Puchaar and Loee Namal towns. The operation, which started overnight and continued into Wednesday morning, killed 20 militants, a security official said, requesting anonymity.
Provincial government spokesman Amjad Iqbal confirmed the attack, saying that troops "extensively engaged militant locations, which resulted in a number of militant casualties."
Earlier, 20 supporters of pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah -- who has been leading a campaign to impose Islamic sharia law in the region -- were killed and up to 15 hurt in an artillery barrage.
According to government reports, around 330 militants have been killed in the area in recent weeks during an army campaign to clear the scenic valley of militants. The military said Saturday that almost all had been forced out.
President Pervez Musharraf, who cited the growing militancy as one of the reasons for declaring emergency rule on November 3, ordered the army to clear Swat of rebels after they made sweeping gains.
The valley remains under a dusk to dawn curfew since the troops launched the operation late last month.
Fazlullah, who is in hiding, is known as "Mullah Radio" for broadcasting fiery speeches over his private FM radio station. The cleric has called for a holy war against the Pakistan government.
In the southwestern province of Baluchistan, gunmen killed two policemen in a drive-by shooting on the outskirts of the provincial capital Quetta. Police called it a "targeted killing".
In the same province but in a separate incident, a senior police official was killed and two others wounded when attackers threw a hand grenade into his home in the town of Hub late Wednesday, police official Faiz Karejo told AFP.
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