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Taliban kill 7 troops in North Wazoo ambush
MIRANSHAH: Taliban ambushed a security forces convoy in North Waziristan on Friday, killing seven soldiers and injuring 16 others. The convoy was going from Miranshah to Datta Khel tehsil when the assailants fired rockets at it in Zoni area of Boya, 10 kilometres west of the agency headquarters. An army statement said the convoy was carrying out a routine movement' to the area from Miranshah, AP reported. The statement did not give many details. However, two intelligence officials in the northwest said tribesmen joined local Taliban fighters to stage the ambush after a 15-year-old boy in the area was allegedly shot to death by an earlier group of traveling soldiers. The boy was killed when troops opened fire after a roadside bomb exploded near the convoy, the officials said on condition on anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Two officers were among the dead in the ambush in Datta Khel, AFP reported. It was a pre-planned attack. Dozens of militants first fired several rockets and then used other weapons and guns,' an intelligence official based in Miranshah said, adding that four military vehicles were destroyed. In retaliation, helicopter gunships shelled the terrorists' hideouts, killing six terrorists. The attack could raise pressure on Islamabad to wage an offensive in North Waziristan, which has largely escaped army action in recent years despite US pressure for a crackdown. Taliban attacks on troops in the region have also been rare. Posted by: Steve White 2010-04-24 |
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