Off the wire
• Roundup: Canadian stock market drops amid GDP data, earnings reports  • 2nd LD: Baltimore probe report finds no evidence Gray fatally injured during arrest: media report  • British political leaders grilled again by voters in live TV debate  • Roundup: U.S. stocks decline amid weak earnings  • Feature: Lang Lang thrills Expo Milano 2015 with Chinese touch  • NASA spacecraft crashes into Mercury, creating 16-meter-wide crater  • 1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks decline amid weak corporate earnings  • Hungary not to introduce death penalty: PM  • UN envoy urges restraint in Burundi protests  • 70 Albanians repatriated for breaking Schengen rules  
You are here: 　 Home

Five Pakistani soldiers, 27 militants die in fighting

Xinhua, May 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Pakistan army said on Thursday that five soldiers and 27 militants have been killed in clashes in Khyber tribal over the past 24 hours.

Security forces backed by fighter jets have been fighting against the Pakistani Taliban and other armed groups in parts of Khyber agency including the strategically important Tirah Valley.

The militants use Tirah Valley in rugged mountains that border Afghanistan for cross-border movement taking advantage of its inaccessibility.

The army said the security forces have made a huge success in operation Khyber-2. capturing terrorists' strongholds Sandapal, Tordara, Kundwala and Mehrban Killay in Khyber Agency.

"During last 24 hours intense fighting took place. A total of 27 terrorists were killed. Five soldiers including captain Ajmal embraced Shahadat (Martyrdom)," the army's information wing ISPR said in a statement.

Security officials believe that the Taliban militants have moved to Tirah Valley from other tribal regions due to major offensives.

The Taliban and their formal rival, the Lashkar-e-Islam group, formed alliance last month fighting for their survival. Endi