At least 13 soldiers and 14 militants were killed in clashes in Pakistan's north-western tribal region along the Afghan border, a military official said Monday. On Sunday, hundreds of militants entered from Afghanistan and ambushed a Pakistani security forces patrol in Dir, a remote district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, according to Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Moazzam Khan. "The death toll of our troops has risen to 13, after the beheaded bodies of seven out of 11 soldiers who went missing were found," a military spokesman said. "Six of our soldiers were killed during the fighting." According to dpa, he said the missing soldiers were first killed and then beheaded. The army is still searching for the four missing men. The spokesman said that 14 militants were also killed in the gun battle. Khan said that Pakistan called the Afghan deputy head of mission to the Foreign Office after the attack and launched a "strong protest" on the intrusion of militants from the Afghan side.
