KHAR, August 8, 2008 (AFP) - At least seven Pakistani troops and 30 militants have been killed in two days of clashes in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, the army said Friday.

Helicopter gunships pounded militant positions Friday as fierce gunbattles resumed between Taliban rebels and troops in the semi-autonomous Bajaur tribal district, a known hideout for Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels.

'Seven Pakistani troops have been martyred and 30 militants have been killed in clashes at Loisam and its surrounding areas since Thursday,' chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.

'Security forces and militants exchanged fire throughout the day Friday as the operation continued against militants in Bajaur region,' he added.

Officials said on Thursday that 25 militants and 10 paramilitary troops had been killed.

The clashes began on Wednesday when hundreds of militants attacked a security checkpost in Loisam which paramilitary troops had recently reoccupied after a period of several months.

Loisam lies on the strategically important road leading towards the main northwestern city of Peshawar.

Taliban militants in Bajaur also beheaded two men and shot dead a third accusing them of spying on the rebels, officials and witnesses said Friday.

The bodies of the three men were found dumped by a road with notes saying 'these people were spying on Taliban movement fighters,' a local government official told AFP.

Pakistan is under mounting international pressure to crack down on militants in the northwest and the tribal zone amid a surge in cross-border rebel attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.