Pakistan troops kill seven in al-Qaida area

At least seven foreign militants were killed today in a gun battle with the Pakistani army on the Afghan border where hundreds of al-Qaida militants are suspected to be hiding.

The clash began when assailants fired rockets and mortars at troops from a mountain near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, said Brigadier Mahmood Shah, chief of security for Pakistan’s tribal regions.