Pat Dollard | Young Americans

Sunday August 10, 2008 (AFP) 

More than 100 militants and nine Pakistani soldiers have died in four days of fierce fighting in a tribal region bordering Afghanistan, the military said Sunday. Fighting was mostly concentrated in Loisam area of Bajaur district, known for Al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts, the paramilitary Frontier Corps said.“During the last four days more than 100 militants have been killed and nine security personnel have also died,” its media centre said in a statement.“The troops casualties may rise as some of their soldiers were missing,” a military official told AFP in Islamabad.Security forces backed by gunship helicopters pounded suspected militant hideouts in the area and heavy exchange of fire continued overnight, he added.

The clashes between rebels and security forces began in Bajaur on Wednesday when hundreds of militants attacked a security checkpost, which paramilitary troops had recently reoccupied after several months.

Loisam lies on the strategically important road leading towards the main northwestern city of Peshawar.

Pakistan is under mounting international pressure to crack down on militants in the northwest and the tribal zone amid a surge in cross-border rebel attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.