A suicide car bomber attacked a police checkpoint in north west Pakistan today, killing 11 people, including four children, the latest in a wave of militant attacks that have claimed more than 300 lives in the past month.

Pakistan's army said helicopter gunships destroyed a suicide bomber training camp and killed six Taliban militants near the northern town of Charbagh in the troubled Swat Valley.

Security forces backed by helicopter gunships killed 10 suspected insurgents today in a mountainous valley in north-western Pakistan, where the government is battling supporters of a militant pro-Taliban cleric, the military said.

Militants seized a police post and paramilitary troops set up sandbagged bunkers to bolster security in a tense town in northwestern Pakistan where supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric have taken up arms against the government, police said today.