The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistani troops killed more than 50 Taliban militants after fighting off an attack on a military fort in a troubled tribal region bordering Afghanistan, security officials said Saturday.

The clash occurred on the night between Wednesday and Thursday near the town of Ladha in the rugged South Waziristan tribal district, where thousands of Pakistani troops are deployed to fight Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

"More than 50 miscreants were killed in the attack and an unknown number were also injured," a senior security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP that militants suffered "heavy casualties in the encounter" but said he had no official figures yet.

The fighting erupted late Wednesday, just hours after thousands of armed tribesmen met at Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, to hunt down those involved in killing members of a tribal peace committee last week.

The tribesmen blame those killings on Baitullah Mehsud, a leading Taliban warlord, who has also been accused by the Pakistani government of masterminding the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto last month.

Military sources said those who mounted the attack on the fort were mainly followers of Mehsud.

There was no immediate comment from local Taliban sources.

Pakistan has pushed more than 90,000 troops into the tribal belt to combat Islamic militants who fled Afghanistan after US-led forces invaded the country in 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States.