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Miran Shah: Pakistani attack helicopters yesterday pounded suspected militant hideouts near the Afghan border as clashes left three militants and at least two soldiers dead, officials said. The fighting started late on Monday when militants fired a barrage of rockets at an army convoy near Imalkhel, a village in the North Waziristan tribal region, after a roadside bomb exploded, forcing the vehicles to stop. One soldier was killed and at least six were wounded, said an army official who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to make media comments. The army retaliated, shooting dead three militants late on Monday. Its forces stepped up their response early yesterday, sending three Cobra helicopters to pound suspected militant hideouts, said an intelligence official, who requested anonymity for the same reason.
The intelligence official said that in fact two soldiers were killed and 11 others were wounded in the overnight rocket attack. It wasn't immediately possible to reconcile the differing tolls from the two officials. Gul Zaman, a local shop owner, said at least four army trucks were hit in the rocket attack, but he couldn't see whether there were any casualties. Also on Monday, suspected militants killed a soldier manning a roadside security post in a drive-by shooting near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. In neighbouring South Waziristan on Monday, militants attacked a security post, triggering a gunbattle with troops that left one attacker dead and two others wounded, another intelligence official and a fighter said. Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in the war against terrorism. It has deployed about 80,000 troops to its tribal regions.
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