Scores of militants killed in Pakistan clashes

A government official said Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships and jets have killed 54 alleged militants in a north west tribal region near the Afghan border.

Maqsood Hasan said three security personnel also died in yesterday’s clashes in Mohmand.

It was nearly impossible to verify the information today.

Pakistan’s military rarely gives details about how it distinguishes militants from civilians, and access to the country’s tribal areas is severely restricted.

The Pakistani military has launched several operations against the Taliban in the Mohmand area, but the insurgents have been resilient.

Pakistani troops were doing routine patrolling in the Paizai area of Mohmand when they came under attack, said Hasan, a deputy administrator in the region. The troops returned fire and the army sent helicopters and jets to target militant positions.

In Peshawar, the main north-west city just outside the tribal areas, a roadside bomb wounded a local police official and one of his officers when it exploded near their vehicle.

And the bullet-riddled bodies of three men accused by the Taliban of acting as US spies were found in North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal region that America has repeatedly targeted in missile strikes.

Notes attached to the bodies claimed the men provided information to the US and warned others who did the same would face a similar fate.