Clashes in Pakistan's tribal area kill dozens of people

Dera Ismail Khan: Taliban fighters clashed with Pakistani troops in a northwest tribal region, killing at least 50 militants and two soldiers.

Clashes have displaced hundreds of thousands in Pakistan's trouble areas, with around 300,000 people displaced in Mingora alone.

The fighting in South Waziristan, the main base for Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, could raise the odds that the army will extend the Swat offensive to the semi-autonomous tribal areas near Afghanistan.

Pakistan's defence secretary said on Sunday that the military operations in Swat Valley "have met almost complete success."

Pakistan expects its military operation to defeat Taliban in the Swat valley to conclude in two or three days, a senior army official said on Sunday.

"Only five to 10 percent of the job is remaining and hopefully within two to three days, the pockets of resistance will be cleared," Syed Athar Ali, secretary of defence for Pakistan, said at a regional defence meeting in Singapore.

His comments came after the military said on Saturday that Pakistani forces had regained full control of Mingora, a week after re-entering the main town in the Swat valley to dislodge thousands of Taliban fighters.