Suspected Taliban militants ambushed a Pakistani paramilitary convoy Saturday in a restive northwestern town, killing 16 soldiers and wounding others, officials said.The convoy was heading to a fort outside Hangu district near the border with Afghanistan when the rebels attacked it with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles, local police officer Shakirullah Jan told AFP. He did not confirm the death toll. But a senior security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 16 soldiers were killed in the neighbourhood of Zargari, outside Hangu city.
Security forces responded by attacking Taliban positions using gunship helicopters and artillery fire in the mountainous region.
"16 Frontier Constabulary were killed in the ambush and a few were injured. Security forces have pounded militant positions using gunship helicopters, the number of casualties on the Taliban side was unknown," the official told AFP.
Hangu district, which has a history of violence between minority Shiite and majority Sunni sects, is close to tribal areas bordering Afghanistan where pro-Taliban militants are active.
Pakistan is battling a resurgence in Islamist violence after a brief lull brought about by the new government's negotiations with Taliban militants in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. The negotiations, launched after the government came to power five months ago, has drawn criticism from the United States and other Western allies.
Local official Fazan Khan said Saturday's attack -- the latest incident in a week of bloodshed in the country that included a suicide bomb attack -- involved hundreds of Taliban militants. "Hundreds of Taliban attacked the convoy and did not allow security forces to retrieve the dead bodies of the soldiers for several hours," Khan said.