Militants kill six Pakistan troops
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
PESHAWAR, Nov 10 (AFP): Militant attacks killed six troops in Pakistan's tribal belt, where soldiers backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships are pressing a major anti-Taliban offensive, officials said Monday.
The first attack, late Sunday, left four soldiers dead in Makin, one of the battlefields where ground troops are pressing an operation against the homegrown Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) network into a fourth week.
Military officials said initially that the soldiers died in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack-of the type deployed by the Taliban to such deadly effect against US and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan.
But the army press office later issued a statement saying militants fired rockets at a security checkpost, killing the four soldiers and wounding one other. Eight militants were killed, the statement said.
Further to the north in the lawless tribal belt, where US officials say Al-Qaeda are plotting attacks on the West, a roadside bomb killed two paramilitary soldiers in Bajaur district, officials said.
The soldiers were travelling at the time in a vehicle to take up duty at the strategic Mullahsaid Top checkpoint, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Khar, the main town of Bajaur.
"Two soldiers were killed and one injured in an IED attack," tribal administration official Abdul Hameed Khan told AFP. Paramilitary and intelligence officials confirmed Monday's incident and toll.
The first attack, late Sunday, left four soldiers dead in Makin, one of the battlefields where ground troops are pressing an operation against the homegrown Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) network into a fourth week.
Military officials said initially that the soldiers died in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack-of the type deployed by the Taliban to such deadly effect against US and NATO troops across the border in Afghanistan.
But the army press office later issued a statement saying militants fired rockets at a security checkpost, killing the four soldiers and wounding one other. Eight militants were killed, the statement said.
Further to the north in the lawless tribal belt, where US officials say Al-Qaeda are plotting attacks on the West, a roadside bomb killed two paramilitary soldiers in Bajaur district, officials said.
The soldiers were travelling at the time in a vehicle to take up duty at the strategic Mullahsaid Top checkpoint, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Khar, the main town of Bajaur.
"Two soldiers were killed and one injured in an IED attack," tribal administration official Abdul Hameed Khan told AFP. Paramilitary and intelligence officials confirmed Monday's incident and toll.