Afghan Militants Kill 12 in Pakistan

Hundreds of militants crossed the Afghan border today and attacked three security checkpoints in northwestern Pakistan, killing 10 paramilitary soldiers and two policemen, officials said. It was the latest of a series of attacks that Pakistani officials say have been launched from an area of eastern Afghanistan where the US has largely pulled out its troops. The raids have increased tension between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the US.

The militants seized control of a local village after attacking the security checkpoints in Chitral district, says a local police official. Pakistani forces responded to the raid and killed nine insurgents, he said. But fighting was still ongoing this afternoon, and Pakistani troops requested helicopter gunships to drive the militants back across the border. Pakistan complained earlier this summer that militants coming from Nuristan and Kunar killed at least 55 members of the security forces and tribal police in a spate of attacks, and demanded that US and Afghan forces do more to stem the flow of fighters. (More Afghanistan stories.)