Miranshah clashes leave eight dead

Militant attack in which one solider was killed was retaliated, 4 militants died, says senior security official.

MIRANSHAH: At least eight people were killed and 15 others wounded in clashes between troops and militants in the restive tribal belt, officials said Monday.

Four militants and one soldier were killed when militants stormed a security forces check point late Sunday in Miranshah, bordering Afghanistan.

The military retaliated with an assault early Monday on suspected militant hideouts outside the town, but the attack left three civilians dead and 15 wounded, security officials said.

“Militants attacked our check point in Miranshah on Sunday evening and killed one soldier, we retaliated... and shot dead four militants,” a senior security official told AFP.

On Monday morning “we fired shells and destroyed five shops in Datakhel near Miranshah,” from where military convoys had recently come under attack, he said.

Two security officials confirmed the civilian deaths in Monday's attack, but the military refused to do so.

“Three civilians were killed and 15 were injured when the security forces fired shells at the suspected militant hide outs,” one of the officials said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Militants have killed more than 4,800 people across Pakistan since government troops raided an extremist mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.

US officials say Pakistan's tribal districts provide sanctuary to Taliban insurgents fighting a 10-year war against foreign troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and to al Qaeda-linked militants plotting attacks on the West.