KHAR, Pakistan (Thomson Financial) - Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships killed 25 Taliban militants and a soldier died in a bomb blast as forces moved into a troubled tribal area, security officials said Thursday.
Clashes erupted when paramilitary troops reoccupied a checkpost they had abandoned several months earlier in the Bajaur tribal zone bordering Afghanistan, a haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, they said.
'At least 25 militants have died in the clashes in the Loisam area of Bajaur over the past 24 hours,' a senior security official said on condition of anonymity.
A paramilitary trooper was killed and two wounded in a remote-controlled bomb blast as a convoy moved towards Loisam and three other soldiers were injured in the clashes, officials said.
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