Seven soldiers, 18 Taliban killed in Kurram clash
04 February, 2012
PESHAWAR: Seven soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a Taliban attack on their checkpost in Kurram area, security officials said on Friday. The overnight attack on Shidano Dand post in the Kurram region triggered clashes in which 18 terrorists were also killed, according to a senior military official. "Armed terrorists stormed the post around midnight and killed seven soldiers," said the official, who did not want to be named, adding that troops retaliated killing 18 terrorists. Other security officials also confirmed the attack. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan in a telephone call to AFP claimed responsibility for the raid, saying 12 Frontier Corps soldiers were killed and four others captured by terrorists. "We carried out this attack to avenge the killing of our commander Taj Gul in Khyber Agency," Ehsan said, without giving details when he was killed and his significance to the group. "We have killed 12 FC soldiers and captured four others alive," he said, adding that terrorists also seized a large cache of weapons. An official, Jamil Khan, said there were around 40 attackers armed with rockets, grenades and automatic weapons. Independent confirmation of death tolls is very difficult in the tribal area, a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold barred to journalists and aid workers. The post is located between Kurram and North Waziristan tribal regions on the Afghan border, a zone considered a stronghold of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and al Qaeda- linked terrorists. The region has experienced a spike in clashes in recent weeks. On Tuesday, dozens of heavily armed Taliban attacked a Pakistani military post in the area, sparking clashes that killed eight soldiers and wounded another 15, the military said. Helicopter gunships were mobilised when the fighting broke out and officials said 35 terrorists were killed. End.
|
