Pakistani army kills 55 Taliban in Swat valley

Pakistani helicopter gunships and ground forces killed at least 55 Taliban fighters Saturday in the troubled Swat valley as part of a full-scale operation against the Taliban, the military said.

"Early morning attack helicopters engaged militants hideouts in Mingora. Fifteen militants are reportedly killed in the engagement," the military said in a statement.

It added that several Taliban hideouts were targeted and their main headquarters were destroyed.

"Militant hideouts were also engaged in Peochar, Qambar, Banababa, Ziarat, Mushkomai and Chamtalai areas in Khawzakhela. Reportedly, 30-40 militants have been killed," the statement said.

Full-Scale offensive

Pakistan's military said Saturday a full-scale offensive in the northwest has put Taliban fighters on the back foot following a pledge from President Asif Ali Zardari to eliminate the Taliban.

Warplanes pounded their hideouts in the Swat valley, an ex-ski resort where up to 15,000 security forces have been deployed under orders to crush extremists in an escalating conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands.

"They are on the run," the army said in a statement, without making clear exactly how much progress it had made in driving them from their positions.

But the statement added that Taliban fighters were "trying to block the exodus of innocent civilians by preventing their departure through coercion, IEDs (improvised explosive devices), road blocks with trees and even (making them) hostages."

Early morning attack helicopters engaged militants hideouts in Mingora. Fifteen militants are reportedly killed in the engagement

Pakistani military

U.S. drone attack

Meanwhile, a suspected U.S. drone aircraft struck a compound in a Pakistani region on the Afghan border on Saturday, killing at least five armed people, intelligence and Taliban officials said.

Four missiles fired by two drones hit a compound in Sarorogha village in the South Waziristan tribal region, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and a known al-Qaeda and Taliban hotbed, one of the intelligence officials said.

"We have reports of at least five militants killed in the missile attack," said the official. The same figure was given by a Taliban official in the region.

Another intelligence official put the death toll at as high as 20, and said one of the missiles also hit a vehicle carrying militants.

The United States carried out about 40 drone air strikes since the beginning of last year, most since Sept. and killed more than 300 people, according to a tally of reports from Pakistani intelligence agents, district government officials and residents.

Including Saturday's strike, there have been 15 attacks this year, with five in April.

We have reports of at least five militants killed in the missile attack

Taliban officials