Three Pakistan troops killed in militant attacks
Posted on: Wednesday, 5 April 2006, 02:18 CDT
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Three Pakistani paramilitary troops were killed and three injured in two attacks by pro-Taliban militants in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said on Wednesday.
The militants fired rockets late on Tuesday night on two paramilitary Frontier Corps posts near Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region.
Tensions have been running high there since last month's fierce clashes in which around 200 tribesmen were killed. The tribesmen were answering a call to arms by militant Muslim clerics following a special forces attack on an al Qaeda camp.
Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said a firefight broke out after militants attacked a paramilitary post in the Shawal area, some 50 km (30 miles) west of Miranshah.
Intelligence officials said clashes erupted in Shawal after 35 to 40 militants attacked a paramilitary post, killing three troops.
Sultan said troops were trying to clear the area of militants.
"A firefight is still going on," he told Reuters.
He said there had been unconfirmed reports that up to eight militants were killed in the shootout.
Intelligence officials said three troopers were injured in a separate attack in the nearby Datta Kheil area.
On Monday, five people were killed in a land mine explosion and two militants died in a clash with security forces in the area.
President Pervez Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, last month warned foreign militants hiding in the tribal region to leave Pakistan or face annihilation.
A large number of al Qaeda remnants and Taliban fled to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt after U.S.-led forces toppled the radical Taliban regime in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York.
(Additional reporting by Simon Cameron-Moore)
Source: REUTERS
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