**Bodies of six suspected Taliban militants have been found in Pakistan’s north-western Kurram tribal region, officials say.**The bodies were found in Kurut area, on the border of Kurram and Hangu district in North West Frontier Province.
Correspondents say this is the first time that bodies of militants have been found outside of the Swat region.
Meanwhile, a senior Taliban commander has been killed in clashes with troops in the Swat valley, officials say.
The commander, Nisar, also known as Ghazi Baba, was killed in an offensive near the town of Mingora, they said.
He was a senior deputy to the Taliban chief in the region, Maulana Fazlullah, who is still being sought.
The Pakistani authorities had offered more than $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.
‘Slit throats’
Officials said at least two of the bodies found in Kurram were of senior fighters from the late Baitullah Mehsud’s Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
They have been identified as Shahnawaz, the TTP commander for Hangu district, and a prominent Taliban fighter Hafiz Kamal, officials said.
A tribal elder requesting anonymity told the BBC Urdu service that all the bodies were those of local Taliban militants.
He said some of them had slit throats.
Commander Shahnawaz was on the wanted list of the Hangu police for several militant attacks.
Troops demolished his house in the Chapari Nayab area of Hangu last week following reports that he was involved in the bombing of a security check post and a public dispensary.
Taliban militants have been active in the Orakzai-Hangu-Kurram region for over two years.
The security forces have recently conducted several small-scale operations against them.
The region is also known for incidents of in-fighting among Taliban groups that control different areas.
The new TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud is one of the top commanders of this region.