The military says it has also captured Mahmood Khan, a senior Taliban commander [AFP]

Army officials on Friday said their forces had detained the five, including Mahmood Khan, a senior Taliban commander, in a "successful operation" in the valley.

"Muslim Khan and Mahmood Khan with head money of 10 million rupees ($120,500) have been arrested by security forces," Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman, said in a statement.

"Along with them, three other terrorist leaders - Fazle Ghaffar, Abdul Rehman and Sartaj - have been also been apprehended," he said.

Swat offensive

Pakistan's military launched a major offensive against the Taliban in Swat and neighbouring areas in the country's North West Frontier Province in April.

The fighting displaced nearly two million people and left more than 1,800 Taliban fighters dead, according to the military.

But analysts said that many of the fighters simply melted away into other areas in the face of the military onslaught.

Sporadic skirmishes continue to take place, though Yusuf Reza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, has said that Taliban fighters had been "eliminated" in the region.

Pakistan is under intense US pressure to crack down on fighters in its northwest along the Afghan border, especially the lawless tribal belt where Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, is believed to be hiding.

The US has said the fighters use Pakistan's tribal areas and other troubled parts of the northwest as safe havens from which to plan attacks on Western troops across the frontier.

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