Pakistan (AP):

Soldiers destroyed a house belonging to Pakistan's Taliban chief yesterday as they pushed into his hometown, the latest advance in a major offensive targeting an insurgent stronghold along the Afghan border, intelligence officials said.

As the battle raged, intelligence officials said suspected United States missiles had killed two militants in a neighbouring region - a potentially troubling strike because it hit territory controlled by another militant faction the army has coaxed into neutrality during its offensive.

The five-day-old offensive in South Waziristan is considered a critical test of the nuclear-armed country's campaign against Islamist extremists blamed for soaring attacks at home and on Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, twin suicide bombings killed six people at Islamabad's International Islamic University in apparent retaliation for the offensive. All educational institutions in the country were closed yesterday, showing the militants' ability to disrupt daily life.

Intense encounters

The military is advancing on three fronts in South Waziristan. The fight for Kotkai town is symbolically key because Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and a top deputy, Qari Hussain, hail from there. It also lies on the way to the major militant base of Sararogha.

An army statement yesterday said forces were engaged in "intense encounters" in heights surrounding Kotkai and had secured an area east of it. Two intelligence officials said troops had secured parts of the town and also destroyed houses belonging to Mehsud and Hussain in controlled explosions.