By DPA,
Islamabad : Pakistani paramilitary troops repelled “a massive attack” near the Afghanistan border Sunday, killing 26 Islamist militants and injuring a dozen more, a spokesman said.
Scores of militants attacked a camp of the Frontier Corps paramilitary force in the Ambar area of the Mohmand tribal district at around 3.15 a.m. (2115 GMT), triggering a clash that continued for nearly three hours.
“Informants say the militants retrieved 26 bodies of their comrades before staging a retreat just after the sunrise,” the spokesman said. “At least a dozen more fighters were also injured in intense exchange of fire.”
The pre-dawn attack also left 10 soldiers wounded.
Mohmand, a known hotbed of Al Qaeda and Taliban militants, lies next to the Malakand region of the North-West Frontier Province where government forces have launched an all-out battle against the militants.
It also borders the restive Bajaur tribal district, where the military killed more than 1,700 insurgents late last year in an offensive that was hailed by the US for helping to control Taliban infiltration into Afghanistan.