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.

Pakistani forces returned fire, and soldiers were sent to areas that appeared to be the source of the hostile fire.

Shah said seven to eight of the attackers were killed. ”Definitely, they are foreigners,” he said. “Our forces have surrounded them.”