The gunbattle took place near Kharkai hills, in the Lower Dir district. – Photo by AP (File)

PESHAWAR: At least 15 militants were killed Saturday in a gunfight with troops in a restive northwestern Pakistani district, security officials said.

The day-long gunbattle near Kharkai hills, in the Lower Dir district of the once Taliban-infested Swat Valley, started when troops were approaching a strategic peak to establish a post, a senior security official told AFP.

“More than 15 militants were killed in a clash with security forces,” the official said.

“One soldier was martyred and three others were wounded,” he said. Another security official confirmed the fighting and casualties.

Last week a suicide bomber blew himself up in the same district as mourners gathered on open ground in Jandol town attending funeral prayers.

More than 4,600 people have been killed across Pakistan in attacks blamed on the Taliban and other extremist networks based in the tribal belt since government troops stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad in 2007.

In 2009, 30,000 Pakistani troops went into battle against Taliban fighters who for two years had terrorised people with a campaign of beheadings, violence and attacks on girls' schools in Swat and parts of Dir.

The army declared the region back under control in July of that year and said the rebels had all been killed, captured or had fled.