This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-south-asia-13435496
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Dozens of militants attack Pakistan security checkpoint | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Dozens of militants attacked a security checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, killing two policemen and wounding several others, officials said. | |
Up to 100 militants reportedly stormed the post near the Khyber tribal area, a stronghold for Taliban fighters. | Up to 100 militants reportedly stormed the post near the Khyber tribal area, a stronghold for Taliban fighters. |
Two members of the security forces were killed and five wounded. Police said at least 12 insurgents were also killed. | |
The attack comes a fortnight after al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by US troops in a midnight raid. | |
But correspondents say it is more likely in response to the continuing military operations against militants in parts of the north-western tribal region. | |
Last Friday, 80 people were killed in a double suicide bombing on a Frontier Constabulary training centre near Peshawar city. | |
The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack - this year's deadliest on the security forces - to avenge Bin Laden's death in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad. | |
"They were well-armed. They had heavy weapons, rockets, mortars everything. The fighting lasted for about four and a half hours," Ejaz Khan, a police officer in the area, told Reuters news agency. | |
The attack took place near Khyber, part of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas close to the Afghan border, which is regarded as a Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold. | |
Officials said that the security forces repulsed the first attack just before midnight on Tuesday and called in reinforcements to fend off a follow-up attack early on Wednesday morning. | |
Security checkpoints are frequently attacked by militants in Pakistan - either by suicide bombings or by assaults involving large numbers of insurgents such as Wednesday's incident. | |
Dozens of security personnel have been killed in such attacks in and around Peshawar during the last three years. | |
Over the last year, the frequency of such attacks has fallen due to increased vigilance by the police and security forces. | |
The clashes are often linked to ongoing military offensives in the tribal belt. | |
Pakistan's army has carried out anti-insurgent operations in six of its seven tribal districts. | |
But correspondents say that the one place it has not mounted an offensive in is North Waziristan, an area which the US and Nato say is a sanctuary for militants attacking their forces in Afghanistan. |