KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistani soldiers killed at least 16 Al-Qaeda linked militants in fierce gunbattles in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.
The fresh clashes erupted late Friday in the Bajaur tribal district where Pakistani troops launched a major offensive against Islamic militants last month.
The operation involving helicopter gunships and artillery has left more than 800 people dead, mostly militants, and also displaced 260,000, officials said.
Residents said that a large number of fresh troops and tanks had arrived in Bajaur.
Five militants were killed in a gunbattle early Saturday near Shakai village, a security official told AFP. The other deaths occurred overnight in nearby villages, the official said.
The casualty figure could not be independently verified.
Pakistan's tribal regions have been wracked by violence since thousands of Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels sneaked into the country after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.
US and Afghan officials have claimed that militants use the mountainous region to launch cross-border attacks on international troops based in Afghanistan.
Violence linked to Pakistan's role in the "war on terror" has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people in suicide and bomb attacks across the country in the past year.
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