Taliban kill two Pakistani soldiers in tribal area

Militants used machine guns to attack a roadside military post near Ladha town: officials

PESHAWAR: A group of Taliban fighters Tuesday gunned down two Pakistani soldiers in the country's northwestern tribal area along the Afghan border, security officials said.

The militants used machine guns to attack a roadside military post near Ladha town in South Waziristan district before escaping into the mountains.

"The soldiers died on the spot. Another soldier was injured and was taken to a nearby hospital," a security official in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, told AFP.

Another official in Peshawar confirmed the incident and casualties.

Pakistan carried out a sweeping offensive in 2009 in South Waziristan targeting the country's main Taliban faction, but many of their commanders and foot soldiers are believed to have fled to neighbouring North Waziristan.

Washington is pressing Islamabad to launch an all-out military offensive in the tribal districts to crack down on various militant outfits active in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan.