Five Pakistani
soldiers were killed in attacks on northwestern border checkpoints launched by
dozens of militants based in Afghanistan, Pakistan's military said on
Monday,
as officials demanded that the neighboring country rein in such violence.
Relations
between the two countries are tense, and each routinely accuses the other of
doing too little to prevent Taliban fighters and other militants from operating
in its territory.
"Dozens"
of militants from across the border stormed security posts in Pakistan's
Mohmand Agency on Sunday night, said senior security officials based in the
region.
Pakistan's
military said 10 militants were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire and
asked Afghan authorities to strengthen surveillance in border areas.
"Terrorists
are common threat and must be denied freedom of movement/action along the
border," the Pakistani army's press wing said in a statement.
The Afghan
government had no immediate response to the Pakistani statements.
A Taliban
faction claimed responsibility for the raid, saying it was part of a campaign
launched last month to target "enemies of Islam" across Pakistan.
Asad Mansoor,
a spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban,
claimed responsibility in a telephone call to Reuters.
Only five of
its fighters were wounded and none were killed in the attack, the Taliban
faction said, however.
Pakistan
summoned the deputy head of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad to protest against
the raid, the Foreign Office said on Monday, urging Afghanistan to crack down
on militants operating on its side of the border.
*REUTERS*
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