Pakistan: Battle kills five as Taliban move beyond stronghold

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Police in Pakistan on Wednesday said at least five people were been killed in a gunbattle with Taliban militants trying to expand their stronghold in the Swat valley overnight Tuesday. According to Zakir Khan, a police official in Buner's Pir Baba area, a group of Taliban militants crossed into a mountainous area of Buner late Monday. Khan said armed tribesmen and police confronted them, and three officers and two tribesmen were killed. He estimated that more than a dozen militants also died.