Islamabad: A Pakistan Army major and about 20 Taliban militants were killed when troops retaliated against an attack launched by militants in northwest Pakistan, officials said Wednesday.
The major was killed when some 60 militants attacked a check post in Kurram tribal region late last night.
The attack was carried out in apparent retaliation for a recent military operation in the region.
About 20 militants were killed and nine rebel hideouts were destroyed when the security forces retaliated, unnamed officials were quoted as saying by TV news channels. There was no official word on the clashes. The area where the attack occurred had earlier been declared as "clear" by security forces.
However, there have been several incidents of violence in the area.
In a separate incident, a policeman was killed and another was injured when a police check post in Charsadda area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb.
PTI