Peshawar, Pakistan - Islamic militants killed three intelligence officials and abducted 30 police and paramilitary troops in two separate attacks in the restive Swat valley of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, officials and Taliban said Tuesday.

More than a dozen heavily armed rebels opened fire on a vehicle carrying the three intelligence officers near the village Bishbanr in the Matta area of Swat district on Monday. The officers died on the spot.

Major Farooq, a spokesman for the Pakistan Army in the region, confirmed the killings.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan accepted responsibility for the attack.

"We had set up our check post in the area and the three officers were asked to stop there. They resisted and were killed in the exchange of fire," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone.

Separately, some 150 to 200 militants surrounded a paramilitary Frontier Corps check post Tuesday and forced some 30 policemen and soldiers to surrender, Khan claimed.

"The seized security personnel will remain in our captivity till the government releases our colleagues," he added.

Following the incident, the security forces exchanged heavy fire in Swat's Kabal area. A mortar round hit a house, leaving one child dead and seven more people critically wounded.

Swat, which used to be a tourist haven, was plagued by violence last year when supporters of radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah tried to enforce strict Taliban-style laws, prompting government to send troops into the area.

Hundreds of people were killed before March, when the new government offered peace talks to the militants. The ceasefire did not hold, as the rebels resumed attacks on the military which they claimed had first violated the truce conditions. (dpa)