ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Pakistani troops killed two pro-Taliban militants, including an Uzbek, on Sunday after they fired on a paramilitary checkpoint near the Afghan border, an army spokesman said. The militants were killed while fleeing in a car after the attack on the post near North Waziristan's main town of Mir Ali, where about 250 people died in clashes last week. "One Uzbek and one local militant were killed in retaliation while two wounded militants escaped," army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said. Violence has escalated in Pakistan's volatile northwest since July, when militants scrapped a peace deal and army commandos raided a radical mosque in the capital, Islamabad. Pro-Taliban militants in neighbouring South Waziristan have been holding more than 225 Pakistani troops captive since late August. Arshsad said efforts were continuing to secure their safe release.
