MOSABJA
Junior Member
Islamabad, Jun 11 (PTI)
At least 13 Pakistani soldiers and 10 tribesmen were killed in an air strike and overnight clashes with NATO and Afghan forces in a tribal region, reports from the area said today.
The clashes erupted in Pakistan's Mohmand Agency after Pakistani border forces stopped NATO and Afghan troops from establishing a check post along the frontier, reports said.
he Pakistani army said the attack that killed its soldiers was "a completely unprovoked and cowardly attack
The Pakistan Army confirmed the incident but did not give details of casualties. TV news channels reported that at least 13 Pakistani soldiers, including an officer identified only as Major Akbar, were killed in the clashes. There were also reports of casualties on the Afghan side.
An air strike by the NATO and Afghan forces was also reported by TV channels. A Pakistani check post and at least two border villages were shelled. The villages that were bombed are located one to four kilometres from the Durand Line, which divides Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Bodies and the injured were airlifted to Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency, and Peshawar in two military helicopters.
Reports said that there were about 50 personnel from the paramilitary Mohmand Rifles in the area when the clashes erupted late night. The army reportedly lost contact with 40 of the troops after the air strike.
A local Taliban spokesman in Mohmand Agency said the militants had inflicted numerous casualties among the NATO and Afghan troops. He also claimed that the Taliban had captured seven NATO troops.
Local tribal elders said they would support the Pakistani troops in defending the region against any further attacks by the NATO and Afghan forces. PTI
Omar said Taliban fighters captured seven Afghan soldiers during the operation.
"We have inflicted heavy damages," Omar said. The Taliban spokesman said Islamist insurgents fought "side by side" with Pakistani soldiers against the Afghan forces during the operation.
Maulvi Umar, a spokesman for an umbrella group of Pakistani Taliban, said militants had resisted an incursion into Pakistan.
He said between 60 and 100 of its fighters attacked NATO and Afghan army troops who had set up bunkers and tents on Pakistani soil. He claimed up to 40 Afghan troops were killed, several captured and that a NATO helicopter was shot down. Eight Taliban troops also died in the fighting, he said.
State-run Pakistan Television said 18 people died in the fighting, including 10 troops and eight civilians.
Officials in Afghanistan all declined comment. The Afghan Ministry of Defense said it had no information on the incident.
On Wednesday, two helicopters brought the bodies of 11 troops killed and another 13 soldiers wounded in the fighting to Peshawar, the main city in northwestern Pakistan, a military intelligence official said on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to comment to the media.
North West Frontier Province Gov. Owais Ahmed Ghani told reporters later at a funeral ceremony for the troops that such an attack "can compel us to review our policy (in the war on terror)."
At least 13 Pakistani soldiers and 10 tribesmen were killed in an air strike and overnight clashes with NATO and Afghan forces in a tribal region, reports from the area said today.
The clashes erupted in Pakistan's Mohmand Agency after Pakistani border forces stopped NATO and Afghan troops from establishing a check post along the frontier, reports said.
he Pakistani army said the attack that killed its soldiers was "a completely unprovoked and cowardly attack
The Pakistan Army confirmed the incident but did not give details of casualties. TV news channels reported that at least 13 Pakistani soldiers, including an officer identified only as Major Akbar, were killed in the clashes. There were also reports of casualties on the Afghan side.
An air strike by the NATO and Afghan forces was also reported by TV channels. A Pakistani check post and at least two border villages were shelled. The villages that were bombed are located one to four kilometres from the Durand Line, which divides Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Bodies and the injured were airlifted to Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand Agency, and Peshawar in two military helicopters.
Reports said that there were about 50 personnel from the paramilitary Mohmand Rifles in the area when the clashes erupted late night. The army reportedly lost contact with 40 of the troops after the air strike.
A local Taliban spokesman in Mohmand Agency said the militants had inflicted numerous casualties among the NATO and Afghan troops. He also claimed that the Taliban had captured seven NATO troops.
Local tribal elders said they would support the Pakistani troops in defending the region against any further attacks by the NATO and Afghan forces. PTI
Omar said Taliban fighters captured seven Afghan soldiers during the operation.
"We have inflicted heavy damages," Omar said. The Taliban spokesman said Islamist insurgents fought "side by side" with Pakistani soldiers against the Afghan forces during the operation.
Maulvi Umar, a spokesman for an umbrella group of Pakistani Taliban, said militants had resisted an incursion into Pakistan.
He said between 60 and 100 of its fighters attacked NATO and Afghan army troops who had set up bunkers and tents on Pakistani soil. He claimed up to 40 Afghan troops were killed, several captured and that a NATO helicopter was shot down. Eight Taliban troops also died in the fighting, he said.
State-run Pakistan Television said 18 people died in the fighting, including 10 troops and eight civilians.
Officials in Afghanistan all declined comment. The Afghan Ministry of Defense said it had no information on the incident.
On Wednesday, two helicopters brought the bodies of 11 troops killed and another 13 soldiers wounded in the fighting to Peshawar, the main city in northwestern Pakistan, a military intelligence official said on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to comment to the media.
North West Frontier Province Gov. Owais Ahmed Ghani told reporters later at a funeral ceremony for the troops that such an attack "can compel us to review our policy (in the war on terror)."