Three police killed in Pakistani border region

KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Three Pakistani policemen were
killed in a suspected Taliban attack on a checkpoint near the
Afghan border in the latest violent response to government
efforts to rid the region of militants.

Pakistan has sent 80,000 troops to tribal areas on the
border to flush out foreign militants and subdue their
Pakistani allies but they have faced stiff opposition from
Pashtun tribesmen who sympathize with the militants and resent
the army’s presence.

Militants attacked a checkpost about 2 miles from the
Afghan border on Wednesday night, in the Bajaur tribal region
opposite Afghanistan’s Kunar province where U.S. forces are
battling militants.

“An exchange of fire continued for more than half an hour
which left three policemen dead,” said a government official
who declined to be identified.

No one claimed responsibility but residents said they
suspected Taliban militants were behind it.

An intelligence official said one of the attackers was
captured but it was still unclear who was responsible.

Many al Qaeda and their Taliban allies fled to Pakistan’s
semi-autonomous tribal belt after U.S. and Afghan opposition
forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001, weeks after the
September 11 attacks on the United States.

Al Qaeda’s kingpin Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy,
Ayman al Zawahri, are believed to be hiding in the rugged
border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.