By ANTARA,
Peshawar : Pakistani troops killed at least 16 militants in the troubled northwestern Swat valley, the military said Sunday.
One soldier died and two others were injured during gunfights with militants over a 24-hour period in the town of Chaharbagh, it said in a statement.
“At least 16 militants were killed and many injured, in an exchange of fire with security forces near Derai, Aligrama and Chaharbagh in the last twenty four hours,” the statement said.
It was not possible independently to verify the claim.
Government forces consolidated their hold over Chaharbagh, “considered to be a stronghold of the hardened militants,” said the military statement, adding that five suspected militants were also arrested during a “search operation” in the area.
Separately, militants shot dead a policeman whom they had kidnapped a night before, it added.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief Ashfaq Kayani Wednesday vowed to restore government authority in Swat.
Pakistan`s military is battling extremists loyal to radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who is waging a violent campaign to introduce Islamic Shariah law in Swat, a valley that once attracted Western holidaymakers to its snow-capped peaks.(*)