PESHAWAR, Dec 22: Local militants and alleged extortionists clashed in the remote Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency on Wednesday night, leaving seven people dead, sources said.

Five alleged extortionists and two militants, known locally as Taliban, were among the dead.

The fresh clashes erupted in the mountainous area after militants besieged the houses of extortionists and asked them to surrender, which they refused.

Reports said that both groups exchanged heavy fire, which left five extortionists and two militants dead in an area close to the Afghan border.

After a nightlong exchange of fire militants captured positions of their opponents and now they are in virtual control of the area, according to a source.

The source told this correspondent by phone that militants had hung the mutilated bodies on electric poles.

The forest-covered Shawal area is considered a stronghold of local and foreign militants where security forces conducted operations to wipe out their hideouts.

Sources said that militants had released a list of 200 tribesmen in North Waziristan Agency, declared them liable to be killed and announced that the movement would be extended to the entire region.

The matter remains shrouded in mystery as to who is commanding the local Taliban, who have almost paralysed the political administration and the security forces.

Violence erupted in the volatile region after local militants backed by hundreds of students of madressahs clashed with a group of extortionists in Miramshah on Dec 7.

At least 24 people were killed and three others wounded, while around 30 houses belonging to the group members were set on fire.

Meanwhile, two bodies were recovered from the Razmak Road in the agency on Thursday. One of the dead has been identified as Malik Jannat Mir Bakakhel, our correspondent adds from Miramshah.