MIRAMSHAH, May 22: Security forces clashed with militants in Zakerkhel village of North Waziristan on Tuesday, killing three foreigners and one tribesman, officials said.

The gunbattle took place when talks between tribal elders and militants hiding in a house in the village failed.

Officials said army and paramilitary forces cordoned off the place after the authorities received a tip that it was being used as a training facility by militants. Military authorities brought local peace committee’s members in a helicopter from Miramshah to the village in the Razmak sub-division to persuade the militants to surrender, but they refused to do so.

According to the deal signed between the government and militants in September last year, the army has to take the peace committee into confidence before taking action in the area.

This was the first coordinated operation in the area since the deal was brokered.

An official said the militants had started the firing.

Paramilitary forces, backed by troops, targeted the house with heavy machine-guns. Artillery shots were also fired from a paramilitary base in Miramshah.

Two Cobra helicopters were also called in from Miramshah but they did not fire.

The security forces had barricaded all roads in the area and besieged villages.

The bodies were brought from the village to Miramshah for identification. Local militants also visited the building where the bodies were lying.