PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Four days of fierce fighting in northwestern Pakistan left 30 soldiers and nearly 100 militants dead as the army attempted to wrestle control of a remote, mountainous valley from the Taliban and their allies, military officials said Monday.The army launched its offensive in the Tirah Valley on Friday after weeks of fighting between rival militant groups forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee the area. The valley is located in Khyber, part of the semiautonomous tribal region bordering Afghanistan, the main sanctuary for the Taliban in the country.
The army has launched scores of operations against the Pakistani Taleban in the tribal region in recent years, but certain areas like Tirah have remained outside their control. The Taliban have remained a serious threat and continue to launch attacks throughout the northwest and other parts of the country with frightening regularity.
The Pakistani Taleban have been waging a bloody insurgency against the government because of its alliance with the U.S. in fighting Islamic militants, and to establish Islamic law in the country. The group is allied with the Afghan Taliban but has focused its attacks inside Pakistan instead of Afghanistan.
The fighting in Tirah over the past four days has killed 30 soldiers and 97 militants, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The air force has also conducted heavy bombing during the offensive, they said.