MINGORA, Aug 20: A security man and a girl were killed and several people were injured while search operation continued in the Swat valley on Wednesday. Militants, meanwhile, burnt down another two girls schools in the region.

Sources said that Hawaldar Naseer was killed in a bomb blast near a security check-post in Bagh Dheri area of tehsil Khwazakhela. Others said a rocket had been fired on the post.

Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack and said that three security forces had been killed. He said such attacks would continue till the operation was halted and troops withdrawn.—Correspondent