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MARDAN, Pakistan – The Pakistani army says 54 Taliban and nine troops have been killed in the northwestern Swat Valley and that government forces are fighting their way in on the ground.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said troops were engaged Thursday in intense fighting about four miles south of Mingora, the valley's main town.
The army launched an offensive in several areas of the northwest last month after Taliban militants seized territory near the capital, Islamabad.
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