Soldier, 6 militants killed in attack on Wana post

WANA (Reuters) – Up to 40 militants have attacked an army checkpoint in South Waziristan, killing one soldier, a security official said on Saturday.
Soldiers at the checkpoint on a bridge in Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, retaliated after coming under fire on Friday night, said the security official.
“There were 30 to 40 militants who first fired rocket-propelled grenades at our post and then opened fire with AK-47 rifles which killed one of our soldiers. But we retaliated and killed six militants,” a security official in the region, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
An intelligence official said helicopter gunships also hit militant positions in the battle. The military said it made gains in a major offensive in October in South Waziristan.
But militants have carried out retaliatory bombings since then, killings hundreds of people.