Militant attack from Afghanistan repelled
islamabad — Pakistani soldiers and the Taleban exchanged intense fire in a restive tribal region along the border with Afghanistan, with each side claiming to have inflicted severe damages on the other.
The army said it repelled an attack by militants who sneaked across the border from Afghanistan and targeted two Pakistani checkpoints in the South Waziristan tribal region, where the military has been conducting operations since mid-2014 to rout militants from the area.
It also said it killed three of the attackers and that several militants were wounded as they fled back across the porous boundary.
The Taleban claimed the responsibility in an emailed statement, describing it as revenge for a recent suspected U.S. drone strike that targeted the insurgents in neighboring North Waziristan tribal region. The statement said about 120 Taleban fighters took part in the raid, which triggered an hourlong shoot-out that allegedly caused much damage. The Taleban frequently exaggerate battlefield successes. The reports were impossible to independently verify because the tribal region is inaccessible to reporters.
Pakistan has launched several operations against local and foreign Al Qaeda fighters, the Taleban and other militants in the tribal regions along the Afghan border where they have long found safe havens. —