Pakistan's army has been engaged in an offensive against the Taliban in Swat for much of this year but the militants seem to be resurging in the valley with reports of violence increasing. - File photo

PESHAWAR Pakistani security forces killed 13 militants, including a prominent commander identified as Gul Mulla, in gun battles in two parts of the northwest over the weekend.

Pakistani troops in northwest Swat district killed four militants including a local commander named Gul Mulla on Sunday, the army said.

'An army convoy was attacked in the outskirts of Mingora. During the retaliatory fire four militants including Gul Mulla were killed,' said Major Mushtaq Khan, a spokesman for Swat media centre.

Maj. Mushtaq Ahmed said Mulla and four others were killed in the Dangram area of the Swat Valley, where the suspected militants were spotted trying to sneak through the mountains to the main town of Mingora. Pakistan's army has waged an offensive against the Taliban in Swat for much of this year.

In the neighbouring region of Lower Dir, security forces killed eight alleged militants hiding in a house in the Maidan area, said Major Suleman Hanif, another army spokesman. The soldiers recovered weapons including two rocket launchers and eight assault rifles.—AP