PESHAWAR: Security forces claimed on Thursday to have repulsed a cross-border attack on a checkpost in Kurram tribal region.

Security sources said at least 16 Afghanistan-based militants attacked a security checkpost in Kurram Agency but troops retaliated with gunfire, forcing the militants to retreat.

During a subsequent search operation, security forces claimed to have recovered the bodies of 12 attackers from the area.

Kurram is one of the most sensitive tribal areas as it borders three Afghan provinces and at one point was one of the key routes for militant movement across the border.

The region was claimed by the military to have been cleared of insurgents during an operation a couple of years ago.

Kurram tribal agency is adjacent to North Waziristan region where the operation Zarb-i-Azb is in progress against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other militant groups.

IED blast kills cop in Peshawar

A policeman was killed and a passer-by injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast near a police check-post in Peshawar.

Half a kilogram of explosive material was planted near a check-post in Samar Bagh area of the city. The explosion killed an on-duty policeman and injured a passer-by, SSP operations Abbas Majeed Marwat told DawnNews.

The victims were shifted to a nearby hospital.

Additional security personnel reached the area and cordoned off the blast site.

Homemade roadside bombs are a major weapon of militants who attack government forces in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal districts.