By DPA
Islamabad : As many as 30 people died Sunday in fighting between militants and Pakistani troops supported by helicopter gunships in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, news reports said.
Government forces launched a retaliatory operation against insurgents in south of the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan following overnight roadside bomb attacks on military convoys, army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
According to intercepted militant radio communications, 20 of their members died and 15 were injured, while the army lost six men in the engagement that continued through Sunday morning.
The spokesman added that he was unaware of civilian casualties in the operation as claimed by media.
Four non-combatants died in fighting that damaged around a dozen houses, the Dawn news channel reported.
The raid responded to earlier attacks on two convoys that killed two soldiers and injured 30.
Pakistani security forces have been intensively targeted by militants in the remote mountainous tribal areas since commandos stormed the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.
The assault against armed Islamic hardliners prompted pro-Taliban tribes to pull out of peace agreements with the government and renew hostilities. Attacks on convoys and checkpoints have killed and injured scores of troops.
The army spokesman denied reports that rebel attackers captured 28 soldiers last week from a checkpoint in North Waziristan.
Militants are currently known to be holding more than 240 soldiers that they propose exchanging for 30 of their comrades in police custody.
Three captured soldiers were shot dead Thursday and the militants threatened more executions if their demands were not met.