Militant attack from Afghanistan kills four in NW Pakistan

 Militants from Afghanistan stormed the house of a local anti-Taliban militia in troubled northwest Pakistan, killing him and three members of his family, officials said Saturday, AFP reports.

The incident occurred late Friday in Tenai Dara village in Upper Dir district around 250 kilometres (160) miles north of Peshawar.

"Taliban militants from Afghanistan stormed the house of Nazmeen Khan, chief of a local anti-Taliban militia, in the late hours of Friday night and killed him along with his two sons and a nephew," local police official Gul Fazil Khan told AFP.

He said two other family members were wounded, including a women who was in critical condition.

Senior police official Javaid Aziz confirmed the incident.

"Taliban militants from Afghanistan attacked the house of a local anti-Taliban militia and the local militia and army later retaliated and killed two militants," Aziz told AFP.

He said the anti-Taliban militia and the military were searching for the militants.

Pakistan began a military offensive in the northwest in the aftermath of a brazen attack on the country's busiest airport in Karachi which killed dozens and left a nascent peace process in tatters.

More than 500 militants and 27 soldiers have been killed in the assault so far, according to the military, though their death toll for insurgents cannot be independently confirmed.