Pakistan's military says its troops killed six militants during overnight fighting in the country's volatile northwest.
Officials say the fighting took place in the Bajaur tribal region near the Afghan border. The clashes began late Monday and continued until early this Tuesday morning.
Pakistan has been under pressure from the United States to do more to fight militants in its northwest, a region the U.S. considers a haven for al-Qaida and Taliban-linked fighters.
Also Tuesday, Pakistan's defense minister Ahmed Mukhtar announced that the government will meet in early December to discuss a series of suspected U.S. drone strikes against militants in the northwest.
Air Force Chief Marshall Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed said Tuesday that Pakistan's military is fully capable of stopping such unmanned aircraft, but it is up to the government to decide whether it should do so.
In the past two months, the United States is believed to have launched about 20 missile strikes targeting al-Qaida and Taliban bases in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region that borders Afghanistan.
The United States neither confirms nor denies it is behind the missile strikes.
Pakistan has protested against the strikes, saying they violate Pakistani sovereignty.
In other violence Tuesday, police officials say unidentified gunmen shot and killed three people in the northwest town of Kohat. No further details have been released.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
