At least 28 militants were killed and five others apprehended during the ongoing military operations in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area in the last 24 hours. An army statement today said five soldiers including an officer were also killed and two others injured in a blast in Sararogha, a main base of Taliban. It said large quantities of arms and ammunition have also been recovered by the security forces during the operation. Reports quoting senior military officials said the Army is winding up the first phase of Operation Rah-i-Nijat by this weekend by capturing all major towns and villages in the Taliban heartland of South Waziristan. <br/>Pakistani security forces launched the ground assault on October 17 with about 30,000 soldiers to take on an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban militants in the lawless area.<br/>