Pakistani officials said troops on Sunday shot dead at least seven militants who infiltrated the north-western district of Swat to escape an offensive in the neighbouring tribal belt.
The gunfight took place when troops intercepted the group trying to enter the Dherai area of Swat, where Pakistan carried out a sweeping military operation in 2009 that brought to an end two years of local Taliban control.
When militants were ordered to stop and identify themselves they fired back and wounded two soldiers, a military statement said. "Resultantly own troops engaged them and killed all of them," it said. Six small machine guns and eight hand grenades were recovered, it added.
The military said the insurgents were reportedly fleeing Mohmand, where Pakistan is waging an air and ground offensive against home-grown Taliban blamed for near-daily bomb attacks in the north-west. Swat police chief Qazi Ghulam Farooq and local intelligence officials confirmed the clash and death toll.
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