Fierce fighting between government troops and militants is continuing in Pakistan's north-western Swat region. Pakistan army 'kills militants' ...
Pakistan officials die in attack ...
Pakistani militants agree truce ...
Pakistan girls' school burnt down ...
The army says 10 civilians, five soldiers and 25 militants have been killed so far.
The militants say only five of their fighters have died.
Hundreds of people on the way to or leaving Swat valley are stranded because of a curfew in the area.
The violence has delivered a serious blow to a peace deal signed with the militants in Swat two months ago.
Seven members of a family, including four children, were killed when a shell hit their house in the Deolai area early on Thursday.
It is not clear whether the shell was fired by the security forces or the militants.
"We are now preparing for the burial [of the victims] but facing hardships due to the curfew," a relative of the family, Jehanzeb Khan, told the AFP news agency.
Kidnap
Troops backed by helicopter gunships and artillery have been targeting militant positions in parts of the district.
There have been reports of some militant casualties, but they could not be independently verified.
In the neighbouring Kabal area, a deadline issued by the militants for security forces to abandon a police station has passed. Some fighting around the police station has been reported.
The Swat clashes come after three officials were killed and up to 25 security personnel kidnapped.
Correspondents say the security situation in Swat has been deteriorating despite a peace agreement between the government and pro-Taleban cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
(BBC)
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