Troops kill more militants in Pakistan

By Junaid Khan

MINGORA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces, backed by helicopter gunships, attacked Islamist militants in a restive northwestern region after a brief truce, killing up to 18 of them, an official said on Wednesday.

Scores of people have been killed in violence in the scenic Swat valley in the North West Frontier Province in the past week.

The fighting subsided on Monday after militants called a truce to bury the dead but they fired at army helicopter gunships and attacked a police station on Tuesday night, prompting retaliation from the security forces.

"The forces used artillery and helicopter gunships against the militants. According to my information, 15 to 18 militants were killed in the attack," Badshah Gul Wazir, the top official at the provincial home ministry, told Reuters.

He said there were no casualties among the security forces.

Swat, which lies close to Pakistan's lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, has seen a surge in militant activity since pro-Taliban cleric Mullah Fazlullah launched an illegal FM radio station and urged a holy war.

The fighting was triggered on Thursday when a suicide bombing targeting an army convoy killed 21 people. Militants then executed 13 people the following day, including six members of the security forces whom they beheaded.

More than 100 people, most of them militants, were killed in fighting that followed.