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7 troops killed in Miranshah

* Eight militants also killed
* Militants attack paramilitary convoy, injure 22 troops

Staff Report

MIRANSHAH: Suspected pro-Taliban militants on Thursday ambushed a paramilitary forces convoy in North Waziristan, killing seven soldiers and wounding 22 others.

Military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said that Mohmand Rifles troops retaliated the militant attack and killed eight of them. The ambush is one of the deadliest since December last year when security forces and militants were exchanging fire on a regular basis.

The paramilitary forces convoy was heading for Razmak from Miranshah. When it reached Naryawala, 20 kilometres south of Miranshah, the suspected militants first exploded a bomb by a remote control that forced the convoy to stop and then attacked them with missiles and heavy weapons.

Eight Mohmand Rifles troops were killed on the scene while 22 were injured. The injured were rushed to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Bannu by helicopter.

Intelligence sources claimed that eight miscreants were also shot dead when the troops returned fire. Sources said that the militants took the bodies of their colleagues with them while fleeing. Local residents told Daily Times that the Razmak-Miranshah road had been closed to all kinds of traffic and helicopters were hovering over the area.

The ambush comes a week after five paramilitary soldiers were kidnapped near Razmak and purported spokesman for pro-Taliban militants Tariq Jamil accepted responsibility for the kidnapping.

Sultan told Daily Times that constant attacks on paramilitary soldiers “do not mean” they were soft targets. “This is not the case. What the militants are doing is they are attacking security forces when they move.”

Separately, five paramilitary soldiers were injured late on Wednesday when a remote-controlled roadside bomb struck their vehicle in Spinwah village 40 kilometres northeast of Miranshah, AFP quoted a security official. Rockets were also fired at security forces in the nearby border town of Mir Ali early Thursday but caused no casualties.

Pakistan says it has deployed 80,000 troops in its lawless tribal belt to hunt militants who sneaked across the frontier after Afghanistan’s hardline Taliban regime was toppled by US-led forces in late 2001. Both North and South Waziristan have seen major clashes over the past two-and-a-half years. Fierce battles flared again last month, leaving around 250 insurgents and five soldiers dead, the military said.

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