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Islamabad, May 10 (DPA) At least nine soldiers and 37 militants were killed Monday in Pakistan's troubled northwest, security officials said.The incident occurred in the Daburi area of Orakzai, one of seven tribal districts where government forces are fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters.Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior military official said that '37 terrorists were killed and many were injured' during a fierce gunbattle.He said nine security personnel, including two officers, also died in the fighting, during which heavy weapons were used by both sides.The private ARY television channel reported that government forces bombed militant hideouts after the gunbattle and smoke was seen rising from areas hit by the army.Pakistan in mid-March launched a major military operation in Orakzai, which had emerged as a favourite haunt of militants fleeing an earlier army assault in the neighbouring South Waziristan tribal district.According to defence officials, more than 600 militants and 27 troops have been killed so far in the clashes. The toll could not be verified through independent sources because the media has not been able to enter the area.The operation is seen as part of Pakistan's military efforts to sweep militants from its northwestern region, considered a hub for insurgents who use the area to train and launch cross-border attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan.Pakistan's recent operations have been praised by the US but the country came under fresh pressure after the arrest last week of Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American who allegedly tried to detonate an explosive-laden vehicle in New York's Time Square.He was reportedly trained in the use of explosives and bomb making by Taliban militants in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas. The US have asked Pakistan to investigate his links with Al Qaeda and other militants groups active within its borders.In an interview aired by the broadcaster CBS Sunday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Pakistan of 'very severe consequences' if a terrorist attack on US soil were linked back to the Southern Asian country.More than 150,000 government troops are involved in various security operations in the tribal areas adjoining Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, formerly called the North West Frontier Province.The focus of the army offensives has been militants involved in attacks against Pakistani troops and civilians. The troops have so far avoided launching operation in North Waziristan, considered the largest safe haven of so called 'good Taliban' who only attack US troops in Afghanistan.Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in sensitive areas, after authorities Sunday arrested a man with batteries and electrical components in his shoes as he tried to board a Thai Airlines flight to Muscat, Oman, in the southern port city of Karachi.Police has not formally charged the bearded civil engineer, Faiz Mohammad, who hails from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as no explosives were found, but he is still being questioned.Shahzad, who was picked up by US authorities from a Dubai-bound airliner at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, also hails from the same province.
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