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At least 65 militants killed in Pakistan
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - At least 65 pro-Taleban militants and 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed in new clashes in Pakistan's North Waziristan on Monday, the military said.
Around 65 militants and 20 soldiers were killed in battles in the tribal region on the Afghan border on Saturday and Sunday.
Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said there had been more fighting in the region on Monday.
"Today, we recovered 25 more bodies of our soldiers from different areas and we have reports that 130 militants were killed in three days," he said.
The clashes took place near the town of Mir Ali.
The military, earlier, had reported that 50 soldiers had gone missing in the area during the clashes.
Arshad said contacts had been established with around 30 soldiers.
"They are back at their positions and efforts were under way to locate other soldiers," he said.
Waziristan is a hotbed of support for Taleban and al Qaeda militants, who fled to the region after US-led forces drove them out of Afghanistan in late 2001.
Militants in neighbouring South Waziristan have been holding about 225 soldiers since the end of August.
Pakistan has seen a surge of violence since July when militants scrapped a peace deal with authorities in North Waziristan and army commandos stormed a radical mosque in the capital, Islamabad.
The violence has reinforced opposition among many Pakistanis, mainly in the conservative northwest, to President Pervez Musharraf's support for US policy in the region.
Musharraf, who won most votes in a presidential election on Saturday, has said terrorism and extremism were the biggest challenges to the country and has called for reconciliation among moderate political parties to tackle it.
- REUTERS
