Taliban attack in NW Pakistan kills 71

At least 22 policemen and 45 militants have been killed when hundreds of heavily armed Taliban militants from Afghanistan attacked a key police station in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal belt.
More than 200 Taliban militants launched the attack from across the border in the Afghan province of Kunar on Wednesday and targeted the Shaltalu police checkpoint in a remote part of Upper Dir district, a press TV correspondent reported.
Four more civilians, including women and children were also killed when militants’ mortars hit nearby houses, the report added.
Clashes between militants and security forces continued at the besieged Pakistani checkpoint on the Afghan border for a second day on Thursday, officials and local sources said.
The Pakistani military has dispatched several helicopter gunships to support the police force in the troubled region.
In another incident, at least six people were injured in a remote-controlled bomb explosion at Baarboze area of Dera Bugti district in southwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday.
Militants targeted a bus with a remote-controlled explosive device, injuring six persons.
Also on April 22, more than 400 Taliban militants from Kunar overran a police checkpoint in Lower Dir, leaving at least 16 Pakistani security personnel killed.
The US invaded Afghanistan with the official objective of curbing militancy and bringing peace and stability to the region. However, after nine years the region remains unstable and militancy has expanded towards Pakistan.
Despite an offensive by the Pakistani government against pro-Taliban militants, they have spread their influence in various regions, killing people and security forces on an almost daily basis.
Nearly 4,500 people have lost their lives in bomb attacks across Pakistan since 2007.

Source: Press TV