Six Soldiers Dead as Militants Attack Pakistan Checkpost

At least six Pakistani soldiers were killed in clashes after militants attacked a checkpost in the country's lawless tribal northwest on Wednesday, officials said.

Dozens of militants armed with rockets and grenades stormed the checkpost in Surang Baba Ziarat village, around 30 kilometers north of Wana, the main town of South Waziristan tribal district, a senior security official in Peshawar told Agence France Presse.

Six soldiers have been confirmed killed in the clashes and seven injured, the official said, adding that the toll was likely to rise. Ten militants were killed, he said.

A second security official confirmed the militant death toll but said nine security personnel were killed.

The area is cut off to journalists and aid workers and it was not possible to confirm the death toll independently.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed in a telephone call that the militants had killed more than 12 soldiers and only one militant was killed, though the group often exaggerates military casualties.

South Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt, where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants have carved out strongholds used to plot attacks on Pakistan.

Pakistan has lost more than 3,000 soldiers in the fight against homegrown insurgents but has resisted U.S. pressure to do more to eliminate havens used by those fighting the Americans in Afghanistan.