Pakistan kills at least 55 militants in Swat valley: military

Helicopters attacked militant hideouts in the town of Mingora in the early morning, with fifteen militants reportedly killed, the military said in a statement.

Up to 40 militants were left dead in various other areas of the Swat valley as several of their hideouts were targeted and their main headquarters destroyed, it said.

The death tolls could not be confirmed independently because of the ongoing military operation across three districts which began late last month when the hardline insurgents advanced to within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Islamabad.

The military on Friday said that hit had killed more than 140 militants.

It said that indiscriminate mortar fire by militants in the populated areas of Mingora resulted in civilian casualties and two soldiers were also injured.

"Militants are using houses of civilians as bunkers for engaging security forces," the military said, adding that insurgents were "harassing" the civil population and were "intensely involved in looting and arson" in Mingora.

The military said that rebels damaged a girls primary school in the town of Kanju and "looted" the main branch of a bank in Mingora.

Elsewhere troops had secured strategic heights and locations in the town of Gulabad and meted out "heavy casualties" to militants in Shangla while an operation in Buner district was "progressing smoothly," the statement said.

Pakistan has deployed up to 15,000 security forces under orders to crush extremists in an escalating conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands.

The offensive was launched after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani late Thursday appealed for unity against extremists whom he said were risking the sovereignty of the nuclear-armed nation and violated the peace deal.