One soldier, 15 militants dead in NW Pakistan: military

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: At least 15 militants and one Pakistani soldier were killed Sunday in clashes in the troubled northwestern Swat Valley, the military said in a statement.
 
 The clashes in Matta district were the latest in nearly a week of fighting that has brought a two-month-old peace deal in the former tourist area to the brink of collapse.

The Taliban movement has warned that it will launch suicide attacks across the country if the military failed to halt the operation against followers of extremist Muslim cleric Maulana Fazlullah.

"At least 15 militants were killed and many injured, in an exchange of fire with security forces near Sij Bund, in Matta district," the military said in a brief statement.

"One security forces personnel also embraced martyrdom."

More than 60 militants loyal to the pro-Taliban Fazlullah have now been killed since Tuesday by government security forces, according to officials.

The clashes came after pro-Taliban militants in the area claimed responsibility for a bomb blast the day before that killed killed six policemen and three paramilitary soldiers.

Officials said the remote-controlled bomb, which also wounded five policemen, was set off as the group returned to base after a search operation in restive Kabal district on Saturday.

"We carried out the bombing which killed policemen," Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said in telephone calls to reporters, adding that militants were justified to launch such attacks because security forces were killing them.

Police said that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the bombing.

Hundreds of residents have fled their homes in the wake of the violent clashes, witnesses said, though authorities have relaxed a curfew from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm in most areas.

Meanwhile, Taliban militants torched five girls' schools overnight. As of Saturday, officials said that militants had destroyed 61 schools serving around 17,000 children in the valley.

Mountainous Swat was a thriving tourist resort until last year, when Fazlullah launched a violent campaign to enforce harsh Islamic Sharia law in the region.

Under the May peace deal, the government agreed to gradually pull out troops and introduce an Islamic justice system. In exchange, the rebels said they would halt attacks and surrender arms.