PESHAWAR - At least five militants were killed and a soldier embraced martyrdom, when militants attacked a security checkpost in North Waziristan Agency in the wee hours of Saturday.
According to reports, a group of armed militants attacked a security forces checkpost situated at Dattakhel area of the agency near the Pak-Afghan border. In the midnight attack, the militants and forces exchanged heavy firing.
The security forces retaliated with full force and killed five of the assailants while others managed to escape. One soldier also embraced martyrdom in the attack.
The security forces, after the attack, launched a search operation in the surrounding areas. A day earlier, at least 23 militants were killed in airstrikes carried out by security forces in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency.
No group has claimed responsibility for attack on security forces in Dattakhel so far. North Waziristan was considered a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups before Pakistan army launched the military operation Zarb-e-Azb with ground and aerial strikes on 15th June 2014.
The operation was launched after a deadly attack at the country’s busiest airport Karachi on June 8, 2014 in which at least 40 people including 10 terrorists were killed.
The forces have recaptured and cleared more than 90 percent area of the region and have also destroyed hundreds of hideouts, including bomb making factories and command and control centers of the terrorists in North Waziristan Agency.