Six soldiers, 12 militants killed in Waziristan

MIRANSHAH: Six soldiers were killed and eight others sustained injuries in two different attacks by militants in the North Waziristan and South Waziristan tribal regions on Sunday, security officials said.
Security forces claimed to have killed 12 militants in retaliatory attacks.Four soldiers were killed and five others injured when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan near the Afghan border.
Unconfirmed reports, however, said seven soldiers were killed in the attack. These reports said that four soldiers succumbed to their injuries before they could be shifted to hospital.The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), however, confirmed the loss of four soldiers in the attack.
The ISPR also claimed that 12 militants were later killed in an exchange of fire.The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by Afghanistan-based Mullah Fazlullah, claimed responsibility for the attack on the security forces.
The TTP spokesman, Muhammad Khurasani, told reporters in a phone call from an undisclosed location that their fighters had planted the IED to hit the military convoy. He claimed nine soldiers were killed in the attack. There was no independent confirmation of these claims.
In another attack, militants opened fire on a security checkpoint in the Ladha subdivision in South Waziristan, killing two soldiers and injuring three others.Azam Tariq, spokesman for a splinter group of the Taliban led by Khan Said Sajna, claimed responsibility for the attack.The attack on security forces in North Waziristan took place only two days after the visit of Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif to the troubled tribal region.