PESHAWAR, Pakistan, March 2 (UPI) -- At least 10 Pakistani police officers and 23 insurgents died Friday in a battle at a remote security post near the border with Afghanistan, officials said.
Mutahirzeb Khan, the administrator of the Khyber region, told The New York Times the attack was led by Lashkar-e-Islam, a local group allied with the Pakistani Taliban.
"The attack was repulsed," Khan said. "The militants have suffered heavy casualties."
Khan did not give specifics, but another official who did not want his name used put the toll at 10 police officers and 23 militants.
The security post in the Tirah Valley occupies a key position between the Tirah and Bara, a Khyber subdivision adjoining Peshawar, the provincial capital. In February, the government launched a push into Bara to keep Lashkar-e-Islam away from Peshawar.
While security forces have been successful in pushing militant fighters further into the mountains, the fighting in Bara has also forced thousands of local tribal members into refugee camps.
