Pakistani forces have killed up to 50 Taliban militants in the military offensive in northwestern Pakistan's Buner district, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

The security forces have killed more than 50 militants in Buner district, and one security man was killed in the operation, the military spokesman Athar Abbas told a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

But Abbas said that 70 paramilitary troops and police have been taken hostage by the militants, and only 18 of them have been release so far.

Pakistani forces continued their operation in Buner district of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), about 100 kilometers from capital Islamabad, dropping parachuters by helicopters in the mountainous region.

"Early Wednesday morning, heliborne forces successfully landed at Daggar and surroundings areas and secured Daggar, headquarters of Buner District and linked up with Police and Frontier Constabulary," said a military statement.

Pakistan army launched an operation in Buner district on Tuesday afternoon facing the Taliban expansion.

Abbas told a press conference on Tuesday that the militants would be cleared of the region within a week.

Abbas said some 450 to 500 militants are present in different parts of Buner district.

The Taliban in early April entered Buner district from the restive Swat valley and set up check points and patrolled the area. Taliban had promised to withdraw from Buner after talks with the NWFP government.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2009)