40 killed in fighting in Pakistan

Mingora, Pakistan: More than 40 people have been killed in two days of fighting in northwest Pakistan, according to the military.

Pakistan soldiers have been fighting militants in the Swat valley who they say are trying to impose Taliban style rule in the area.

Major Amjad Iqbal, an army spokesman, said 17 militants were killed in Swat valley's Shangla district in gunbattles on Tuesday night, taking the death toll since Tuesday to 40.

Four civilians from the same family were also killed by a mortar bomb on Wednesday elsewhere in the valley.

Thousands of people have fled the area since the army stepped up operations last week.