At least 25 suspected militants and seven troops were killed Sunday in fierce clashes in South Waziristan, officials said. Battles erupted overnight in South Waziristan when militants attacked an army checkpoint and security targets in the town of Spinkai Raghzai and other villages in the district, the military said in a statement. "Miscreants attacked a security forces checkpost last night (Saturday) in Spinkai Raghzai, South Waziristan agency. The attack was repulsed successfully, inflicting heavy casualties on militants," it said. Troops killed 15 insurgents in that clash while three soldiers died, the statement said. In a separate incident in South Waziristan, 10 militants were killed when Pakistani forces returned fire on rebels who shot at a military convoy, it said. Four soldiers including a lieutenant were killed in the clash. Security officials in the area gave higher tolls of the militant dead from both incidents. "According to fresh reports we received from the site, more than 45 militants died," Syed Ahmad, a police official in the tribal area, told a foreign news agency. Khan Badshah, another local official, confirmed that death toll and said the rebels had taken most of the bodies away for funeral rites.