ISLAMABAD: Seven Pak­istani paramilitary troops were killed on Tuesday in a cross-border attack on a border post.

“Heavy fire from across Pak-Afghan border on a Frontier Corps checkpost, north-east of Angoor Adda in South Waziristan, killed seven FC soldiers,” a brief statement by ISPR on the incident said.

A military source said the incident took place approximately at 4am.

It was not clear if the post had been attacked by militants or the Afghan security forces. It was, however, speculated that Pakistani militants, who have taken up sanctuaries on the other side of the border, could have been behind the deadly strike.

Military officials were tight-lipped over the nature of the attack.

Pakistani security personnel at the post were last attacked from the Afghan side on July 1, when an RPG-7 rocket and a few rounds of small arms were fired on the border gate due to which two guards were injured.

The Angoor Adda border post has remained a flashpoint between the two countries.

Dawn Correspondent Sailab Mehsud adds from Dera Ismail Khan: A spokesman for the Majlis-e-Askari, a little known Taliban group, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group’s spokesman Abdullah Waziristani told media persons from an unspecified location that his men had carried out the attack.

He claimed that 10 security personnel had been killed in the attack and two had been taken into custody. Three Taliban men, he added, were injured in the attack.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play