Seven Pakistani soldiers killed in Taliban attack: Officials

Afghanistan Sun (ANI) Friday 3rd February, 2012

Seven Pakistani soldiers have been killed, while three others were wounded in a Taliban attack on their check post in the country's northwestern tribal belt, security officials have said.

The overnight attack on the Shidano Dand post in the Kurram region reportedly led to a confrontation between both parties, killing 18 militants as well, as a senior military official said.

"Armed militants stormed the post around midnight and killed seven soldiers," The Dawn quoted the official, as saying.

Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan reportedly claimed responsibility for the raid in a telephonic interview, saying 12 Frontier Corps soldiers were killed and four others captured by militants.

"We carried out this attack to avenge the killing of our commander Taj Gul in Khyber agency. We have killed 12 FC soldiers and captured four others alive," he said, adding that militants also seized a large cache of weapons," Ehsan said.

The post is located between Kurram and North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border, a zone considered a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda linked militants. (ANI)