Six soldiers, 14 Taliban killed in Pakistan

At least 14 militants and six soldiers were killed Saturday in the latest fighting in the ongoing military operation in Pakistan's restive northwestern tribal region, the army said.

Nearly 30,000 troops supported by air power and long-range artillery moved into South Waziristan, a known Taliban stronghold near Afghan border, in mid-October to take on the militants.

The offensive, which began over four weeks ago, is being keenly watched by the US and its NATO allies, as the inaccessible mountainous region has become a favoured haunt of Taliban and Al Qaeda involved in operations across the border in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan Army said in a statement that it had conducted search and clearance operations in a number of locations, where they found trenches and recovered huge caches of arms and ammunition.

The soldiers fought "an intense battle" with militants and took control of Lakki Ghundi area, the army said. "During the operation 14 terrorists were killed," according to the statement.

The six soldiers, including an officer, were also killed in the fighting and four other injured.

Intelligence officials meanwhile said four Pakistani soldiers died when Taliban fighters attacked a paramilitary camp in the neighbouring North Waziristan. The army did not however report the incident in its official statement.

"Our forces killed six militants in the retaliatory fire," the intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The army said that with the latest fatalities included, 76 troops and 570 militants have been killed in the fighting so far. The figures could not be independently verified as the area is out of reach of media and aid agencies.

It is suspected that hundreds of Taliban fighters fleeing South Waziristan military operation are regrouping in the North Waziristan.

Islamic militants are seen to have stepped up attacks on official and civilian targets in towns and cities in an apparent bid to avenge their losses in South Waziristan.

Since mid-October, more than 350 people have been killed in a string of attacks in which markets, police stations and army bases in various parts of the country have been targeted.

Last updated on Nov 21^st, 2009 at 19:00 pm IST--DPA