LANDI KOTAL, March 1: At least four soldiers were killed and another 10 went missing when an avalanche hit an army patrol in Tirah valley of the Khyber Agency on Thursday, sources said.

The incident occurred in Kachkol, about 75km southwest of Landi Kotal, at about 10am.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in Peshawar that ground parties had been sent to Kachkol to conduct a rescue operation and retrieve the bodies.

The ISPR only confirmed the number of missing soldiers.

“We have reports that 10 people are missing after a snow slide,” DG ISPR Major-General Waheed Arshad told AFP. “Efforts are on to find them, and we hope many of them would be found alive,” he said.

In February 2005, an avalanche had struck a patrolling party of the army in Tirah, killing 24 soldiers.

When attacked, the 14 soldiers were on a routine patrol in the mountainous region, bordering Afghanistan, said the sources.

Locals said that the area had received heavy snow over the past few days.

Political authorities in the Khyber Agency said four bodies had been retrieved from the snow while 10 soldiers were missing. They said that tribesmen were cooperating with rescuers.

Officials said that helicopters had been sent to the area, but they could not take part in the rescue operation due to inclement weather.

Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 troops in Fata, including Kachkol, to flush out members of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and their local supporters who are believed to be hiding there.