Peshawar - Eight government troops were killed Saturday in a pro-Taliban militant attack in north-west Pakistan, official said.

More than two dozen heavily armed insurgents attacked a police checkpoint in Buner district of North West Frontier Province, and both sides exchanged fire for about two hours.

"One junior officer from FC (paramilitary Frontier Corps) and seven policemen have been killed in the attack", Sher Wali Khan, an official of Buner Police told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Peshawar, July 31: In a retaliatory action, the Pakistan Army reportedly gunned down at least 25 Taliban militants in the restive Swat valley on Wednesday. Five soldiers, including two Army officers and three soldiers, were “martyred” in the fierce battle, said a military statement issued in Peshawar.

According to the military statement, up to 70 militants attempted to storm a Pakistan Army checkpost in the Ucharai Sar area near Matta tehsil, about 20 km from Mingora. “The attack was successfully repulsed, resulting in the death of 25 miscreants,” the Daily Times quoted the military statement as saying.

The two officials killed in the battle were an Army officer and a junior commissioned officer, said the paper.

Peshawar, July 30 : The Pakistan Army has imposed curfew across the Swat region for an indefinite period after its troops exchanged fire with militants in some areas of the valley.

So far, at least 30 Taliban have been reported killed in the Matta region of the Swat Valley. The Taliban, however, said that only five of their comrades had died.

The clashes followed renewed violence in the area in which three Pakistani officials were killed and up to 30 security forces kidnapped by militants.

The violence has delivered a serious blow to a peace deal signed with the militants in Swat two months ago.

Peshawar, July 30 : Taliban militants have killed a woman near Miranshah after she was accused of spying for US forces across the border in Afghanistan.

According to The News, the body of Gulzada Bibi, 30, was found dumped on open ground Wednesday 14 kilometers west of Miranshah, the main town in the restive North Waziristan district.

A note found near her body said Bibi was spying for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, a Pakistani security official told media here.

Peshawar, July 29: Following repeated threats from the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that they would increase their attacks on NWFP government establishments, the Provincial Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti has said his government did not fear the threatening statements by militants, and added that anyone challenging the government’s writ would be dealt with sternly.

Speaking to media persons after chairing a meeting of the provincial cabinet, Hoti said the provincial government would join hands with the federal government to tackle terrorism.

Peshawar, July 29 : Pakistan security officials have claimed that a top Al Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert was killed in a suspected US missile strike in the Tribal Areas on Monday.

The Egyptian militant Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, had a five million-dollar bounty on his head and allegedly ran terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.