Sunday, April 25, 2010

In a gun battle that took place between Pakistani soldiers and insurgents on Sunday, eight insurgents were killed and ten others were injured. The incident occurred when about 40 rebels attacked a checkpoint near the Goain village in the Orakzai district of the North-West Frontier Province of the country.

Jahanzeb Khan, a local administrative official, said the attack at the Goain checkpoint was resisted by the army. Two security officials confirmed that heavy artillery had been used for the battle, in which eight rebels died. Sajjad Ahmed, another local official, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that two underground hideouts of the rebels had also been captured by the army.

A senior military official confirmed that the death toll was eight. “Security forces killed at least eight militants during a search operation,” the official said. “Up to 40 militants attacked our security forces,” he said. Bodies of six of the dead insurgents have been discovered.