Pakistan's military says at least 30 militants and six soldiers have been killed during fighting  Sunday in the North Waziristan tribal region.

An army spokesman (Major General Waheed Arshad) says that security forces attacked the pro-Taleban militants after they ambushed a military convoy Saturday evening near the town of Mir Ali.  He says fighting was also taking place in other parts of the area.

Violence has been escalating in Pakistan's northern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan since July, when a peace pact with militants broke down in North Waziristan, and army commandos stormed a radical mosque in the capital, Islamabad.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters and AP .