Rocket attack kills 3 Pakistani soldiers – officials

MIRANSHAH – At least three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed and 25 others wounded on Sunday in a rocket attack on their camp in a restive tribal area, officials said.

Four rockets hit the camp in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal district, where troops were preparing for Independence Day assembly, a senior security official told AFP.

“Three paramilitary soldiers were martyred and 25 others were wounded in rockets fired by militants,” the official said.

“The condition of five of wounded soldiers was serious.”

Another security official and local intelligence officials confirmed the attack and the death toll.

Pakistan carried out a sweeping offensive in 2009 in neighboring South Waziristan targeting the country’s main Taliban faction, but many of their commanders and foot soldiers are believed to have fled to North Waziristan.

Washington is pressing Islamabad to launch an all-out military offensive in the tribal districts to crack down on various Islamist militant outfits active in Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan.