PESHAWAR, March 10: At least 39 militants and four security personnel were killed on Saturday in a day-long gunbattle in northwestern tribal region, officials said.

The fighting took place as security personnel, backed by helicopter gunships, carried out a search operation around the town ofBara in the lawless Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan.

“Four paramilitary soldiers were martyred and seven others were wounded in today’s fighting,” a senior security official told AFP.

“At least 39 militants were also killed,” he said.

Four civilians also died when a mortar shell hit a house, an official said. A senior paramilitary official said the militants belonged to the Taliban-linked Lashkar-e-Islam group that is led by Mangal Bagh.—AFP