Taliban launch attacks along north Pakistan border
Baku, December 24 (AZERTAC). At least three soldiers and 24 militants have been killed in clashes near the Afghan frontier in north-west Pakistan, officials have said.
About 150 Taliban fighters attacked five paramilitary Frontier Corps checkpoints in Baidnami, Mohmand tribal region, on Thursday evening, they said.
The Frontier Corps said at least 12 soldiers were injured.
The Taliban disputed the account, saying they had killed 12 soldiers and only two of their fighters had died.
Two soldiers had also been captured, a Taliban spokesman said. The claim was denied by security officials, who said no-one was missing.
"Security forces have cordoned off the area and are searching for the fleeing militants," a military spokesman said.
Mohmand is a transit point for insurgents crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan and a stronghold of the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The Pakistani military has launched offensives there in recent months, but insurgent attacks have continued on a regular basis.
Earlier this month, a twin suicide bomb attack at a government compound in Ghalanai left 43 people dead. Local officials had been meeting tribal elders to discuss forming an anti-Taliban militia at the time of the blasts.
In July, another twin suicide bombing attack, also targeting tribal elders, killed more than 100 people in the village of Yakaghund in Mohmand.
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