Pakistani militants kill dozens in 2 attacks

Pakistani militants killed at least 41 people in two separate incidents, officials yesterday said, challenging assertions that military offensives have broken the back of hardline Islamist groups.

The US has long pressured nuclear-armed ally Pakistan to crack down harder on both homegrown militants groups such as the Taliban and others which are based on its soil and attack Western forces in Afghanistan.

In the north, 21 men working for a government- backed paramilitary force were executed overnight after they were kidnapped last week, said a provincial official.