'7 Pak soldiers killed in cross-border firing from Afghan'

Peshawar, Oct 27: Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed today and three others injured when heavily armed militants from Afghanistan attacked a security check post in the country's restive tribal South Waziristan Agency.

"The firing occurred on an Frontier Corps (FC) check post northeast of Angoor Adda in South Waziristan killing seven FC personnel," the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

"Three other FC personnel were injured in addition to those killed," a senior military official said. The militants attacked the check post with large and small arms which was retaliated by security forces.

The Angoor Adda check post bordering Afghanistan has been also attacked by Afghan forces and militants in past.

Soon after the attack, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Khan strongly condemned the firing. Earlier on Sunday, at least four soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed and four others were injured as militant groups fired rockets from across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Khyber Agency.

Pakistan's seven tribal districts near the Afghan border are rife with homegrown insurgents and are strongholds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives.

Pakistan has been battling a homegrown Islamist insurgency for over a decade.

PTI