Land-mine blast kills 8 Pakistani soldiers

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A land-mine explosion and an ambush by militants killed at least 10 Pakistani soldiers in separate incidents in the northwest region, security officials said.

Eight of the soldiers died Wednesday in the Daw Jungi area after their vehicle hit a land mine, Pakistani Dawn newspaper reported. A passerby died and several other soldiers were injured in the attack.

An ambush Wednesday by militants on a paramilitary convoy in the Mohmand tribal area left two soldiers dead and nine others missing, the report said. Security forces killed 10 militants in a four-hour gun battle that ensued.

Pakistan's Frontier Corps in Peshawar, capital of the troubled North-West Frontier province, said four other soldiers were injured in the Mohmand gun battle. Sources told Dawn the ambush occurred in Atum village near the border with Afghanistan as the soldiers were returning to base.

The Pakistani military has been engaged since Oct. 17 in a major offensive against the Taliban, al-Qaida and other terror groups suspected to be hiding in South Waziristan and other lawless tribal regions. The militants, while conceding ground in their territories, have launched a wave of almost daily terror attacks across Pakistan in retaliation, killing hundreds.

Pakistani helicopter gunships pounded terrorist sanctuaries Wednesday, killing several suspected terrorists, the military said.

The BBC reported a three-day general strike had been called in Charsadda, the latest town near the violence-ravaged Peshawar to ne targeted by the militants. The toll from a bombing Tuesday in Charsadda has risen to at least 32.