Two Pakistani troopers, militant killed in clash

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, May 28 (Reuters) Two Pakistani paramilitary troopers and a pro-Taliban militant were killed in a shootout while a pro-government tribal chieftain was shot dead in the North Waziristan region today, officials said.

The gunfight broke out today afternoon after militants travelling in a car opened fire on troopers when they tried to stop them at a checkpost near a small village.

''Our two soldiers martyred while one miscreant was killed in the return fire,'' a military official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.

The rugged Waziristan region, bordering Afghanistan, has been the scene of fierce battles between the security forces and Islamist militants for the past few years.

Clashes have intensified in North Waziristan since an airstrike on an al Qaeda compound in early March. According to military, over 300 militants, including foreigners, have been killed in these gunfights.

In a separate incident, five masked Islamist militants shot dead a pro-government tribal chief, Malik Takhti Khan Bakakhel in the main market of Mir Ali town.

Bakakhel backed the government's efforts to flush out foreign militants in the region that straddles with Afghanistan, local administration official, Mohammad Fida Khan, said.

A number of government officials and tribal elders have been killed in Waziristan in recent years for supporting the government or over suspicions of acting as informers for US forces operating across the border in Afghanistan.

Many al Qaeda militants and their Taliban allies fled to Pakistan's semi autonomous region after they were chased out of Afghanistan by US-backed forces in 2001.

REUTERS CH PM2225