PAKISTAN: Five Pakistani security personnel killed in attack on checkpoint

Record ID: 352773

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Five Pakistani security personnel killed in attack on checkpoint
  • Date: 18th March 2010
  • Summary: PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (MARCH 17, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN SHOWING SPENT BULLET SHELLS
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAB4SBC8R23IML34IQ14P8IJBG6
  • Story Text: A group of militants attacked a security checkpoint early on Wednesday (March 17) on the outskirts of Peshawar, killing three paramilitary troops and two policemen, police said.
    Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province near the Afghan border, has been hit by a wave of violence in recent months.
    According to local media reports, the heavily-armed militants attacked the security check post in Akakhel, a border area between Peshawar and Bara Tehsil.
    Bara Tehsil is a restive region of the Khyber tribal Agency where a military operation against militants has been going on for the last three months.
    The five security personnel were killed after a long gun battle with the militants, television channels reported. Their funeral prayers were offered in Peshawar.
    No militant casualties could be confirmed.
    Hours later, two missile strikes by pilotless U.S. drone aircraft killed at least six militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan, a major al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuary, intelligence officials and residents said.
    U.S. officials say the pilotless drones are one of the most effective weapons against militants. The strikes have killed senior Taliban and al Qaeda figures.
    But they have caused resentment in U.S. ally Pakistan, where anti-American feeling runs high.
    The military has scored major gains in the offensives in Swat Valley and in the South Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border, but insurgents have often bounced back with retaliatory attacks.
    Last week, six bombings killed 81 people, challenging official assertions that crackdowns had weakened militants.
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