Soldiers fighting in Pakistan’s tribal region who battled militants overnight found 17 bodies on Saturday dumped in the countryside, identifying them all as insurgents, a government official and the Army said.
The fighting took place in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan, an area targeted in an ongoing military operation.
Late on Friday night, militants attacked security forces in the Spin Qamar region of the tribal area, 50 kilometres northwest of Peshawar , government administrator Khalid Khan said. The gun battle raged for several hours and soldiers found the 17 bodies, all identified as militants, early on Saturday morning in three different locations, Mr. Khan said.
In a statement, the Pakistan Army said dozens of militants attacked a security checkpoint there late on Friday.
“The attack was valiantly repulsed” and “terrorists ran away leaving behind 17” bodies of their associates, the statement read.
