Troops kill 20 militants in north-west Pakistan

Islamabad - Pakistani troops killed at least 20 Islamist militants in running weekend battles in the volatile north-western Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan, officials said Sunday. The fresh clashes took place close to Khar, the main town of the militant stronghold region of Bajaur, where government forces have launched a major offensive against the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Islamist extremist Taliban. 'Intense late Saturday encounters that continued through the night left at least 20 miscreants dead while many more were injured,' a local security official said on condition of anonymity. Some troops were also wounded in the fighting, the official said without giving any numbers. Helicopter gunships and artillery pieces were also pounding militant positions in Rashakai, Tang Khata and Loi Sam areas. Many militant hideouts were said to have been destroyed in the attacks. 'Troops have secured the area around Rashakai and are now continuing their advance,' said Major Murad Khan, an army spokesman in the garrison town of Rawalpindi where the military had its headquarters. Clashes erupted in Bajaur early August when dozens of pro-Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint on a strategic hilltop in Loi Sam, located some 15 kilometres west of Khar. Security forces launched a massive operation to clear up the region which has become a hotbed of hard-core militants. Bombing raids and heavy artillery fire have so far killed hundreds of insurgents. Separately, a policeman died on Sunday when rebels opened fired on a patrol unit in the north-western town of Bannu. One attacker was also killed when police returned fire. Meanwhile, authorities on Sunday reopened a key tunnel linking Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), with a strategic garrison town of Kohat. The 1.9-kilometre tunnel was closed to traffic last month after militants carried out a car bombing on a paramilitary camp and also destroyed at least two bridges on the highway connecting NWFP with central and southern parts of the country. 'Cars and light transport vehicles are being allowed to use the tunnel during daytime,' Khan said, adding that the tunnel would not be open to traffic at night until the security situation improved.