Militants attacked the home of a district government official in Pakistan's Swat Valley today, killing three members of his family and seven guards, according to police.
Stemming growing militant violence is a test for a fractious coalition government preoccupied with infighting after staunch US ally Pervez Musharraf quit as president last week.
Troops have been battling militants in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, for the past year but fighting has intensified in recent weeks with 50 militants and 10 soldiers killed in clashes since Friday.
"Militants attacked the house with rocket-propelled grenades," said police official Snober Khan.
The Swat valley was one of the country's main tourist destinations until last year when Pakistani Taliban fighters infiltrated from enclaves on the Afghan border to support a radical cleric bent on imposing hardline Islamist rule.
It is now one of several areas in the northwest where security forces are battling militants.
Security concerns, uncertainty over the government's future and worry about the economy have unnerved investor confidence and sent the nuclear-armed country's financial markets skidding lower.
The rupee hit a new low to the dollar in Friday trading while Pakistan's stock market has fallen about 29 percent this year.
Reuters