South Waziristan insurgency: Militants attack security post, kill four soldiers

The attack involved about 70 militants, including Uzbeks; TTP claims responsibility.

DI KHAN:

At least four soldiers were killed when Taliban insurgents attacked a military check post in the South Waziristan tribal agency in the wee hours of Friday.

Over 70 militants, including Uzbek fighters, attacked the check post in the Asman Manza area of the Ladha sub-division, according to a Peshawar-based security official.

Another security official from the area claimed that four attackers were also killed and three injured in retaliatory fire from security forces.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesperson for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack in Saam village and put the number of dead soldiers at 15.

Ehsan claimed that the check post and an army tank were also destroyed in the attack. He claimed that only one TTP fighter was killed and a few others were injured in retaliatory fire from the security forces.

Ehsan’s claim of military losses could not be verified independently. The militants usually exaggerate military losses in their raids.

The region, once a stronghold of the TTP, was cleared of militants after the military operation, codenamed Reh-e-Nejat, in 2009. But militants carry out sporadic attacks on security forces in Ladha and Sararugha sub-divisions of South Waziristan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2012.