Militants yesterday attacked an isolated army checkpoint in
Pakistan's restive northwest, with at least 35 people killed in the
initial assault, subsequent crossfire and a rocket attack on a house,
officials said.
The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility,
saying the attack was in response to a US drone strike in neighbouring
North Waziristan last month in which two commanders were killed.
The
Pakistani military and pro-government militias have since 2009 regained
territory from the Pakistan Taliban, who once controlled land a few
hours' drive from the capital of Islamabad.
The militants attacked
the post at Lakki Marwat early yesterday. A security official said 12
militants and 13 soldiers were killed in the clash. Two bodies had
suicide bomb belts on them.
The militants also targeted a house
next to the camp with rockets, killing 10 members of one family,
including three children, the official said.
"Pakistan has been
co-operating with the US in its drone strikes that killed our two senior
commanders, Faisal Khan and Toofani, and the attack on military camp
was the revenge of their killing," the Taliban spokesman said.
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