MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Suspected pro-Taliban militants ambushed a military convoy in troubled northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, triggering a shootout that killed 10 militants and wounded seven soldiers, an army spokesman said.
The fighting began after a group of armed militants opened fire on troops traveling through Shawal on the edge of North Waziristan, Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said.
Pakistan - a close U.S. ally in the war against terrorism - has deployed some 90,000 troops to the Pakistan-Afghan border region to track down militants but is facing pressure from the United States to do more. Washington is concerned that al-Qaida may be regrouping in the region.
The latest attack came a day after dozens of masked militants stormed a military post in another northwestern tribal region, Bajur, abducted two soldiers and bombed the building, an official said Sunday.
More than 30 assailants attacked the security post Saturday night, local security official Yar Mohammed Khan said. They blew up the building before fleeing with two paramilitary soldiers from the Bajur Levies, a border security force.
Pro-Taliban fighters have stepped up attacks on security forces in recent weeks and are holding about 240 troops who were abducted in South Waziristan on Aug. 30.
The abductions underscore the army's problems in controlling Pakistan's lawless border regions, where the state holds little sway.
The militants have demanded the army withdraw from their areas and release more than a dozen comrades in return for freeing the troops.
Six of the abducted troops in South Waziristan were released on Wednesday.
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