Islamabad: Two security personnel were killed and 22 more reported missing after hundreds of Taliban fighters targeted three check posts near the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday, officials said.
The check posts in the Frontier Region of Peshawar, which were manned by the Levies militia, were attacked early this morning.
Security officials were quoted by the media as saying that the missing personnel may have been kidnapped by militants.
Security forces launched an operation to recover the missing personnel, officials said.
The attack was carried out by about 200 militants armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks but officials blamed the Taliban.
The militants appeared to have come from nearby tribal areas that serve as bases for the Taliban, they said.
The militants took away weapons and vehicles from the check posts.
Two of the check posts were reportedly set on fire.
Reports in the media said about 100 Levies personnel were deployed in the three check posts.
This was the third attack on security forces around Peshawar this month.
Four persons were killed when a group of suicide attackers tried to storm the Peshawar airport on December 15.
Leading anti-Taliban politician Bashir Ahmad Bilour and eight others were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber in Peshawar on Saturday.
In June, 17 security personnel were beheaded after being abducted by Taliban fighters.
PTI
