Scores killed as hundreds of Taliban forces attack Pakistani security post

Scores killed as hundreds of Taliban forces attack Pakistani security post

2011-06-02 18:59:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

DIR, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Scores of people have been reported killed after ongoing fighting between hundreds of Taliban forces and Pakistani security forces continue at a police check point in the western part of the country, officials said Thursday.

Over 70 people have been killed during the fighting, including some 45 militants, as well as two women and two children, the Nation reported. At least 22 security personnel have also been killed although some reports say up to 28.

The fighting broke out on Wednesday when over 200 Afghan militants attacked the police post in the town of Shaltalo, located in the Upper Dir District in Pakistan's province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when the group tried to enter Pakistan. Skirmishes have continued around the area during the last 24 hours.

According to reports, the militants were wearing Pakistani military uniforms and easily entered the country. Security forces were forced to deploy gunship helicopters to assist police and military personnel during the operations, some six miles from Afghanistan's Kunar province.

In the same district, officials said a government girls' school was destroyed and a bridge was later blown up, presumably by the same group of Taliban forces.

The attack came just one day after Pakistani officials began their previously announced offensive against militant forces in the volatile region of North Waziristan, where Pakistani air strikes reportedly killed some 17 militants at targeted hideouts in the Orakzai region.

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