MIRAMSHAH, Aug 26: Security forces killed five militants and arrested another in Datakhel area in North Waziristan on Saturday night in a clash which followed an attack on a security post leaving one soldier dead and two others injured.

Officials said security forces retaliated after the Ismailkhel post had been attacked with rockets and missiles.

A witness said that the area was littered with parts of the militants’ bodies.

Security forces brought one body and the arrested militant to Miramshah in a helicopter. The body was handed over to the political administration.

Rockets were also fired at Banda post near Miramshah but no casualty was reported.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the kidnapped security personnel, including a lieutenant-colonel, remained unknown. A 21-member jirga held a meeting with South Waziristan Political Agent Hussainzada Khan in Wana on Sunday and briefed him on their inconclusive talks with militants. Sources said both the sides were not prepared to soften their stance.

MNA Maulvi Mirajuddin Khan, who is leading the jirga, said the mediators would proceed to Laddah on Monday for more talks with the militants.

He said that the political authorities had turned down the militants’ offer to free the kidnapped personnel in small groups.

The sources said the jirga was also trying to revive a peace agreement between the government and militant commander Baitullah Mehsud.

Militants had kidnapped 16 paramilitary soldiers on Aug 9 and killed one of them, while four personnel, among them Lt-Col Shahid Kiani and a naib tehsildar, were kidnapped on Friday night.

In the Bannu Frontier Region, police seized 31 rockets from a car and arrested three people in Bakakhel area, our correspondent adds.

Police said that the suspects belonged to Lakki district.

AFP adds: Seven militants were injured in the Datakhel clash, an official said.

Troops posted at Banda checkpoint fired artillery shells at suspected militant hideouts overnight, but there were no immediate reports about casualties, he said.

In Bajaur, suspected militants shot dead a 40-year-old tribesman, accusing him of spying for US forces.

Militants also fired rockets at a checkpoint outside Khar.