Islamabad - Pakistani security forces have started operations against the Taliban in a district the militants captured last week as troops completed a similar offensive in another northern district near Islamabad, killing up to 75 rebels, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Jet planes and helicopter gunships were used to target militant positions in the mountains surrounding the Buner Valley in the Buner district, 100 kilometres north-west of Islamabad, Major General Athar Abbas told reporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, adjacent to the capital.

"The overall objectives of the operation are to eliminate and expel militants from Buner," Abbas said.

He said the operation was mainly conducted by the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) but regular army troops were assisting them.

About 300 heavily armed militants infiltrated Buner, taking over state buildings and setting up checkpoints across the district, a move that was widely received with concern, given the area's proximity to the capital of the nuclear-armed country.

The development also followed last month's peace agreements the government signed with militants in the nearby Swat Valley to end a 16-month conflict in exchange for the enforcement of Islamic law there.

But the accord encouraged the militants, who expanded their influence to the neighbouring districts of Lower Dir and Buner. With some initial hesitation, the government on Sunday started limited action in Lower Dir.

"The Dir operation has been completed," Abbas said. "Seventy to 75 militants have been killed, and many of them have been flushed out of the area. Ten security personnel have been martyred."

He acknowledged, however, that some pockets of resistance remained in the area. (dpa)