10 militants, one soldier killed in Pak clash

At least 10 militants and a security personnel were killed on Sunday in a fierce clash in the restive South Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan.

The clash erupted after heavily armed militants attacked a security check post in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan tribal agency, early on Sunday morning.

One security personnel was killed and another injured in the attack, TV news channels reported. Ten militants were killed and eight more injured in the clash with security forces, state-run Radio Pakistan reported on its website.

Security forces used helicopter gunships to target the militants and destroyed two rebel hideouts, the report said. The exchange of gunfire between the two sides lasted for two hours.

Local residents told the media that they had been ordered out of the area so that troops could conduct an operation against the militants. Pakistani troops had conducted a major operation in South Waziristan in 2009 to flush out Taliban militants.