WANA, Oct 19: Three soldiers were killed and three others injured when militants attacked a military patrol at the Spinkay Raghzay area in South Waziristan on Tuesday evening, tribal and army officials said.

Sources said that the militants attacked the patrol comprising five vehicles, three kilometres to the west of the Scout Fort in Jandola, when it was returning from Spinkay Raghzay.

Those killed included a subedar and two soldiers. The attack took place just before Iftar, residents said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations has confirmed the incident and said the army was responding to the attack but did not give any details.

Witnesses said people of the area had tried to dissuade the militants from attacking the army convoy but they refused to listen.

They said four militants and two civilians were killed when the army responded to the attack. However, this could not be confirmed from independent sources.

After the attack, security forces started intense artillery shelling from the Jandola Fort and hit various suspected sites in the Spinkay Raghzay area where forces were being dispatched for the first time.