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Taliban attack kills seven Pakistani soldiers
Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed and three more wounded in a Taliban attack on their check post in the country's northwestern tribal belt, security officials said today.
Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed and three more wounded in a Taliban attack on their check post in the country's northwestern tribal belt, security officials said on Friday.
The overnight attack on Shidano Dand post in the tribal Kurram region triggered clashes in which 18 militants were also killed, according to a senior military official.
"Armed militants stormed the post around midnight and killed seven soldiers," the official, who did not want to be named said, adding that troops retaliated killing 18 militants.
Security officials confirmed the attack saying that at least three soldiers were also wounded.
Independent confirmation of death tolls is largely impossible in the tribal area, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold barred to journalists and aid workers.
The post is located between Kurram and North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border, a zone considered a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
The region has seen a spike in clashes in recent weeks.
On Tuesday dozens of heavily armed Taliban militants attacked a Pakistani military post in the area, sparking clashes that killed eight soldiers and wounded another 15, the military said.
