Pakistani authorities have released 12 Taliban militants as part of a peace agreement with Islamist in the northwestern Swat Valley.
Pakistani media report that no prominent Taliban members were among those freed.
The controversial peace deal will allow officials from the North West Frontier Province to implement Sharia (Islamic law) in the region which includes Swat. In exchange, local Taliban militants promised to end their two-year violent insurgency.
In other violence, officials say Taliban militants shot and killed at least eight security officers in the northwestern Mohmand tribal region. Officials say the officers were captured after a clash with militants.
Also on Saturday, Pakistani authorities said at least 14 people were killed in three separate bombings in the country's volatile northwest.
In other news, Pakistani security officials are searching for the possible wreckage from a pilotless U.S. drone (remote-controlled aircraft) that reportedly crashed in South Waziristan. Such drones have been used in missile strikes against Taliban and al-Qaida suspects in the region near the Afghanistan border.
There have been more than 30 such attacks on Pakistani territory since the middle of last year, despite public objections from Pakistan's government.
