Islamabad, Dec 6 (DPA) Pakistani security forces killed at least four militants, including a local commander, in the restive Swat valley Sunday, officials said.
The casualties came as troops continued search operations to eliminate Taliban remnants after wresting the control of the mountain district this spring.

A military spokesman in the region said an assault was carried out in Dingram village near Mingora, the main town of Swat, following a tip-off that rebels were hiding there.

Four militants were killed in an exchange of fire, the officer said, adding that a local commander Gul Mola was among the dead.

In May, Pakistan’s armed forces launched a major assault in Swat, which used to be a tourist hub until 2007, and announced taking control of most parts of the valley after two months. However, sporadic clashes are still being reported.

Elsewhere in the troubled north western region, one militant was killed and at least four more were captured in a raid on a seminary near Peshawar.

Police officer Ajmer Shah said elite police and military personnel stormed the compound in Kaka Sahib village in Nowshera, 45 km east of Peshawar, sparking a gunfight that left one militant dead.

A huge cache of weapons and explosives, including suicide vests, were seized from the seminary.

Police suspect that the captured men had links with militant groups behind recent bombings in the north western towns, particularly Peshawar.

More than 400 people have been killed during the last two months in bombings and other attacks, which intensified after the military launched an offensive mid-October against Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal district near the Afghan border.