PESHAWAR: At least eight militants were killed on Friday in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan Agency as security forces repulsed the militant attack on a checkpost.

Official sources said militants fired rockets on a checkpost situated in Dattakhel, following which security personnel responded with retaliatory firing. During the clash, at least eight militants were killed.

Security man killed as militants fire rockets on Kalaya mosque

A security man was killed and four others were injured as militants fired rockets on a mosque during Friday prayers in Kalaya, the agency headquarters of Lower Orakzai Agency.

A political administration official confirmed that four rockets were fired from an unknown location at a mosque in Kalaya Headquarters. Subsequently, one soldier was killed and four others were injured.

Orakzai is one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants are said to have carved out strongholds.

It was a key abode of former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud before he was killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan in 2013.