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Four soldiers, six militants killed in Bajaur clash
[Dawn] Four soldiers were killed when militants stormed a security post in a troubled tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said Friday.Armed with heavy weapons and rockets, militants launched the attack on a post in Chinar town in the Bajaur tribal region, local administration chief Ghulam Saeed Khan told AFP. 'Four soldiers were killed and three wounded,' Khan said adding that troops retaliated killing six attackers. Security officials, confirming the casualties, said the attack was mounted late Thursday. 'Militants first lobbed rockets and then moved close to the post and opened fire with heavy weapons,' one official said. Militants have recently stepped up attacks on security forces and government installations in Bajaur, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts considered a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked extremists. The violence has surged since Pakistan launched a major offensive in the Taliban bastion of South Waziristan on October 17. Officials say the aim is to distract the army's attention from South Waziristan. In February, the army declared a major six-month operation in Bajaur successful. But violence continues to rock the region. Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas have been infested by hundreds of extremists who carved out safe havens after the ouster of Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime in a US-led invasion in 2001. Posted by: Fred 2009-11-21 |
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