[Dawn] A landmine attack and ambush killed 10 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border Wednesday, in a sign that violence is spreading away from the frontlines of a major anti-Taliban offensive.Wednesday's deaths were reported in Mohmand, where the paramilitary Frontier Corps has been operating for well over a year against the Taliban, and after security officials warned that the militants are stepping up attacks elsewhere.
'Eight soldiers were martyred and two were wounded when their vehicle hit a landmine buried on the roadside,' Major Fazal ur-Rehman, spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps, told AFP.
The attack happened on the outskirts of Safi town near the Afghan border in Mohmand tribal district, the paramilitary said.
'The soldiers were on a routine patrol. The landmine was buried by militants. The explosion damaged the pick-up,' said Rehman.
He said the incident was separate to a Taliban ambush that left two paramilitary personnel dead and eight others missing after militants attacked a another convoy nearby at Ghanam Shah on Wednesday.
Local official Rasool Khan said two security personnel, initially reported as missing, later made contact. 'A search operation is continuing for the remaining eight who are missing,' Khan told AFP by telephone from Mohmand.
Two bodies were recovered after the ambush and 10 rebels killed after attack helicopters shelled suspected militant hideouts in the area on Wednesday.
The United States has put Pakistan on the frontline of its war against Al-Qaeda and has been increasingly disturbed by deteriorating security in the country where attacks and bombings have killed about 2,500 people in 28 months.