A Taliban fighter and a member of a pro-government militia were killed in a shootout in Pakistan's troubled northwest today, an official said.
Troops aided by volunteers of the tribal 'aman lashkar' or pro-government militia raided a militant hideout in the suburbs of Tank district near South Waziristan Agency early this morning, triggering a gun battle.
"A volunteer and a militant were killed while a soldier was injured," the official said.
The violence came as government negotiators and a Taliban-nominated committee held preliminary talks in Islamabad.
The two sides are trying to finalise a roadmap for a dialogue aimed at ending violence that has left over 40,000 people dead in more than a decade of terrorism and militancy.
In a separate incident in Mir Ali area of the lawless North Waziristan tribal region, unidentified armed men fired at a vehicle and killed four persons late last night, officials said.
The dead were yet to be identified, they said.
