Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistani troops killed 150 militants and wounded 50 others in three days of fighting in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said today.

At least 45 soldiers were also killed in the clashes near the town of Mir Ali and 15 others are missing, Arshad said by telephone from Rawalpindi, outside Islamabad.

``We have told them to surrender and give up their weapons,'' said Arshad, adding the ground forces were backed by helicopter gunships.

The fighting, which began late on Oct. 6, is some of the heaviest the region has seen since President Pervez Musharraf deployed troops to the border area in 2003 in an effort to control Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

Fighting has intensified in northwestern Pakistan since troops stormed Islamabad's Red Mosque in July, ending a challenge to the government by pro-Taliban clerics seeking to impose Islamic law in the capital.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in an audio message released last month, called on Pakistanis to rebel against their government to avenge the Red Mosque assault, in which at least 100 people died.

About 300 people have been killed in suicide bombings and other attacks in northwestern Pakistan since the mosque raid.

Peace Accord

Musharraf's government is trying to rekindle a peace accord in North Waziristan under which tribal leaders will expel al-Qaeda fighters and non-Pakistani gunmen.

The clan chiefs pulled out of the agreement in July and stopped cooperating with security forces.

The government is pushing for reconciliation with the tribal leaders in the region, Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told reporters yesterday, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan.

They ``are not our enemies, they are our brothers,'' Sherpao said at a news conference in Islamabad.

Musharraf has deployed more than 80,000 soldiers and established 1,000 military posts on the 2,430-kilometer (1,510- mile) border with Afghanistan in an attempt to control insurgents.

Since 2004, his government has sought the support of tribal leaders in North and South Waziristan to expel insurgents.

The Bush administration has criticized the strategy and says that giving tribesmen more autonomy has allowed al-Qaeda to regroup in the region and plan further attacks against the West.

To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Qayum in Islamabad at kqayum@bloomberg.net ; Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net .