Two Pakistani police killed in midnight raid
Dozens of armed fighters attacked a police checkpoint in north-west Pakistan in the early hours of Wednesday morning, killing two police officers and injuring five more, police said.
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Seventeen of the Islamic fighters were killed in the shootout, Al Jazeera TV reports.
The attack began at around midnight local time. Police repelled an initial advance after about an hour of fighting, but the gunmen launched a second assault, firing rockets and throwing grenades at the checkpoint.
Police said the assailants were from either the Tehreek-e-Taliban or Lashkar-e-Islam, which is led by Manghal Bagh. Both armed Islamist groups are active in the Khyber region.
The Khyber Pass in the mountainous terrain forms a key supply route for Nato forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been battling Islamist rebels linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the northwest of the country for years and thousands of soldiers have died in fighting.
The Pakistani Taliban vowed revenge for Osama Bin Laden’s death on Wednesday in a video obtained by Al Jazeera.
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