Pakistan forces today gunned down three militants in response to the murder of a Village Defence Committee member in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
Armed militants attacked the house of Village Defence Committee member Ayub Khan and shot him dead yesterday.
Security forces launched a search operation soon after the incident and traced the attackers, following which a gun battle took place in Charbagh area of Swat district, leaving three of the attackers dead, official sources said.
The army declared Swat, once known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan", back under control in July 2009 after defeating rebel chief Mullah Fazlullah and his Taliban fighters who waged a two-year campaign of terror in the region.
Fazlullah survived the blitz and escaped to neighbouring Afghanistan to regroup and launch cross border raids.
He was appointed as chief of Taliban last year after his predecessor Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack.
