PESHAWAR: Twenty-six security personnel were killed and four others injured in a cross-border attack in the Chitral region on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday.
Check-posts in the Langorbut and Kavti areas of Arandhi and Ursun and Mir Khani in Drosht came under attack in an early morning raid when militants crossed over at 4: 00am from Nuristan province in Afghanistan, officials said.
“Firing is still continuing in the area and it is feared that casualties might rise,” said an official.
There were unconfirmed reports of people missing, but officials said the situation was still unclear and there was limited communication because of the geographical location of the area.
Local sources said there were reports of militant activity in the border region after intense fighting in Nuristan.
Last year, an Afghan official claimed that Maulana Fazlullah, runaway chief of Swat Taliban, had been killed in a clash between security forces and militants in the Barg Mittal area of Nuristan.
The government has eyed the Afghan border with much suspicion and blames the Afghan government of not taking action against militants in the border areas. It is believed that militants who escaped the military operation in FATA and Malakand took refuge in Kunar and Nuristan in Afghanistan.
Militants from across the border have consistently attacked check-posts and raided villages in Dir, Bajaur and Mohmand from April to July this year.
Cross-border attack: 26 security personnel killed in Chitral – The Express Tribune