Nine Taliban militants killed in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani security forces killed nine Taliban fighters during weekend operations in the troubled Swat Valley, the military said Sunday.

Six militants were killed in a clash with troops and police Sunday in Banjir, a mountain village located on the boundary between Swat and its neighbouring district of Buner.

The casualties included three militant commanders, a military spokesman in the region said, adding that a soldier was wounded in the fighting.

Separately, three “terrorists” were killed in a joint search operation conducted by the army and pro-government militiamen in the Mora area near Swat’s Najigram village, the military said in a statement on Sunday. Sixteen suspects were also rounded up.

Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban remnants in Swat and other nearby areas after reportedly killing more than 2,000 insurgents in a sustained offensive launched late April.

The region holds numerous Al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries, which are used by militants to carry out attacks on the Western forces operating in Afghanistan.