Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Border Fighting

[bemildred]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At least 28 Pakistani soldiers have been killed after two days of intense fighting with militants who crossed the border from Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan, local police officials said Thursday.

As many as 45 militants were killed, the officials said. The figures could not be independently verified.

Three civilians, including two women, were also killed in the clashes, and three Pakistani soldiers were missing. It was unclear whether they had been killed or had been abducted by the attackers.

At least 200 militants crossed the border on Wednesday morning and attacked a police post in Barawal, a village surrounded by rugged mountains and forests in the Shaltalo area of Upper Dir, a district in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Shaltalo is near the border with Kunar Province of Afghanistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/world/asia/03pakistan.html