Seven Pakistani troops killed in militant attack
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Militants fired rockets at a Pakistani paramilitary post in a troubled tribal region bordering Afghanistan early on Tuesday, killing seven troops, government officials said.
It was the latest in a spate of violence in North Waziristan, part of a semi-autonomous tribal belt where many al Qaeda members took refuge after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001.
The militants attacked the post about three km (two miles) southeast of North Waziristan's capital, Miranshah, after midnight, sparking a battle that lasted about two hours, local government officials said.
Paramilitary troops returned fire, but it was not known if there were any militant casualties, said the officials, who did not want to be identified.
The dead were five paramilitaries and two regular army troops, while several soldiers were wounded, one official said.
On Saturday, eight members of the Pakistani paramilitary force were killed in an attack by pro-Taliban militants in a nearby area.
Tuesday's incident came a day after Pakistan lodged a strong protest with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, saying cross-border firing in the Mir Ali area of Waziristan on Saturday had killed eight people, including a woman, and wounded nine.
Residents said they believed a helicopter gunship had attacked the house of a religious scholar who supports Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas.
U.S. authorities had denied their troops were involved, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a briefing on Monday, adding that authorities were investigating reports that a foreign helicopter had landed on the Pakistani side.
Many al Qaeda members have been given shelter in Waziristan, an area that stretches through rugged mountains and deserts, by militant sympathisers from conservative Pashtun tribes on both sides of the border.
Pakistan has had about 70,000 troops in the region and hundreds of people, many of them militants and government troops, have died in its efforts in the past two years to clear foreign militants from the area.
In early December, villagers in the Mir Ali area said a missile fired from an unidentified aircraft, possibly a U.S. drone, killed five people including Abu Hamza Rabia, who authorities said was an al Qaeda leader.
Authorities said Rabia and the four others were killed when bomb-making material stored at their hideout detonated accidentally. His body was not found.
It was the latest in a spate of violence in North Waziristan, part of a semi-autonomous tribal belt where many al Qaeda members took refuge after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001.
The militants attacked the post about three km (two miles) southeast of North Waziristan's capital, Miranshah, after midnight, sparking a battle that lasted about two hours, local government officials said.
Paramilitary troops returned fire, but it was not known if there were any militant casualties, said the officials, who did not want to be identified.
The dead were five paramilitaries and two regular army troops, while several soldiers were wounded, one official said.
On Saturday, eight members of the Pakistani paramilitary force were killed in an attack by pro-Taliban militants in a nearby area.
Tuesday's incident came a day after Pakistan lodged a strong protest with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, saying cross-border firing in the Mir Ali area of Waziristan on Saturday had killed eight people, including a woman, and wounded nine.
Residents said they believed a helicopter gunship had attacked the house of a religious scholar who supports Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas.
U.S. authorities had denied their troops were involved, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told a briefing on Monday, adding that authorities were investigating reports that a foreign helicopter had landed on the Pakistani side.
Many al Qaeda members have been given shelter in Waziristan, an area that stretches through rugged mountains and deserts, by militant sympathisers from conservative Pashtun tribes on both sides of the border.
Pakistan has had about 70,000 troops in the region and hundreds of people, many of them militants and government troops, have died in its efforts in the past two years to clear foreign militants from the area.
In early December, villagers in the Mir Ali area said a missile fired from an unidentified aircraft, possibly a U.S. drone, killed five people including Abu Hamza Rabia, who authorities said was an al Qaeda leader.
Authorities said Rabia and the four others were killed when bomb-making material stored at their hideout detonated accidentally. His body was not found.
posted by Marko at 1/10/2006 01:07:00 AM
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