Three soldiers killed in heavy Bajaur clashes: officials

Seven militants were also killed as security officials conducted a door-to-door search operation in Salarzai

KHAR BAJAUR: At least three soldiers, including a captain, were killed and two others were injured during a clash with militants in Salarzai area of Bajaur Agency on Monday which left seven militants dead.

Heavy exchange of fire took place during an operation to clear suspected militants from the mountainous Banda area of Salarzai town in Bajaur Agency, local and security officials said.

"Two soldiers and an army captain have been killed while seven militants were also killed in the clash," a security official told AFP, adding that two soldiers were wounded.

Frontier Corps and local tribal police had launched a house-to-house "search and cordon operation... to clear the area of militants" early on Monday, the official told AFP.

A group of militants attacked them in the afternoon triggering "a heavy exchange of fire which lasted for several hours", the official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to media.

The clearance operation is still ongoing with intermittent gun fire, the official added.

The mountainous Banda area is considered to be a particular stronghold of militant groups, a senior government official in the area said.

Pakistan has strengthened its anti-terror strategy in the wake of a December 16 attack on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, 134 of them children.

Troops have been engaged in a full-scale offensive against Taliban and other militants in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal districts since June 2014.