At least seven security forces personnel were killed and three were injured when dozens of militants attacked a checkpost in Lower Kurram Agency in the early hours of Friday, officials said, claiming 18 militants were killed in retaliatory action. The checkpost, at Shaheedano Dhand in Lower Kurram Agency, was attacked by a horde of militants using modern and sophisticated weapons and hand-grenades. Later, security forces carried out retaliatory action, targeting suspected hideouts and compounds of militants with the help of helicopter gunships and artillery. The officials said 18 militants were killed in the fighting.
“Armed militants stormed the post around midnight and killed seven soldiers,” said an official who did not want to be named. Other security officials also confirmed the attack. Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan in a telephone call to AFP claimed responsibility for the raid, 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,” Ehsan said. “We have killed 12 FC soldiers and captured four others alive,” he said, adding that militants also seized a large cache of weapons.
