14 troops dead as Taliban hit back

PESHAWAR (AFP/Reuters) - Fourteen troops and 18 Taliban militants have died in clashes and air bombardments in the tribal belt as violence spikes in the northwest region, officials said Sunday, as army prepared an assault on the Taliban chief.
Security forces, wrapping up a two-month campaign against militants in and around northwest Swat Valley, are opening up a second front against Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in the lawless Afghan border region.
The military, near the end of an offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley after two months of fighting, is set to launch a new drive in South Waziristan, where Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is based.
Militants firing rocket-propelled grenades ambushed the military convoy in North Waziristan, another militant stronghold on the Afghan border, hitting several vehicles, intelligence agency officials said.
At least 12 soldiers were killed when their convoy came under attack Sunday in Gharlamai area near Wachabibi village, about 45km west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, the military said.
“Twelve soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and 10 others were seriously injured when a military convoy was attacked... in Gharlamai area,” it said in a statement.
“Ten terrorists were also killed in the exchange of fire with the security forces,” it said, adding “an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists continued for some time.”
A security official in the area said there were between 100 and 150 militants involved in the ambush. Military helicopters were sent to the area to tackle the attackers and bring back the dead and injured troops, he added.
Meanwhile, warplanes bombed Taliban on Sunday in their bastion of South Waziristan after the militants attacked two military camps, killing two soldiers, officials and residents said.
“Fighter jets bombarded militant hideouts in Samm village of Laddah town in South Waziristan on Sunday, killing eight rebels,” a security official said.
Sunday’s airstrikes were on two villages in Laddah district, a Mehsud stronghold, and two militant compounds were destroyed, said a government official and residents.
“It was a heavy bombing. Two militant compounds and several houses have been completely destroyed,” said the government official, in South Waziristan’s main town of Wana.