At least eight people were killed here on Tuesday as Pakistan's security forces clashed with militants believed linked to al Qaeda, local officials said. "The dead included five militants," an administration official said. The exchange of fire erupted after militants, perched on surrounding hills, attacked soldiers in the Makin area, 60km north of here, he said.

Militants also attacked a military convoy in the nearby Sarvakai area, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said. "Security forces have cordoned off the area after firing on the convoy and a search for militants was going on," Sultan told a private TV channel. He gave no details of Residents said helicopters pounded suspected hideouts of militants in the area, causing an unknown number of casualties.

Earlier militants had fired rockets at a military post near the Afghan border, killing one paramilitary and injuring two others, officials said. "One paramilitary employee died while two others were injured when two rockets landed," one official said.

Troops returned fire and targeted the suspected hideouts of the militants, he said. Residents said a student was injured during the crossfire.

Officials also said security forces had besieged an Islamic seminary on suspicion that foreign militants were hiding there.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004