Pak army steps up Taliban offensive

Twenty-nine people were killed and thousands of civilians forced to flee Pakistan's northwestern region of Khyber, the military said yesterday, as it stepped up a two-week-old offensive against Taliban militants in the area.

Meanwhile, a suspected US drone strike killed at least five militants in a Pakistani tribal region bordering Afghanistan yesterday, with local villagers saying the dead included of a senior Arab commander.

U.S. drone strikes have escalated this month, hitting targets in tribal areas several times a week, but the latest strike comes just days after US and British combat troops in neighboring Afghanistan officially ended their operations.

Twenty-one suspected militants and eight soldiers were killed on Wednesday, the military said in a statement, but gave no figure for civilian casualties.

National disaster officials say the fighting has forced more than 18,000 people to abandon their homes.

Residents of the area say many people are caught between the two opposing forces, as the military orders them to leave and the militants urge them to stay.

The military said it had killed dozens of militants in airstrikes and fighting since the fighting began in Khyber.  The Khyber offensive began two weeks ago in the area around the Tirah Valley, a key smuggling route into neighbouring Afghanistan. At the same time, the military is pressing on with a campaign against the Taliban it launched in nearby North Waziristan in June.