At least 12 people were killed and 26 injured in three separate clashes involving security forces, militants and tribesmen in north-west Pakistan, media reports said Thursday, according to DPA. Three suspected pro-Taliban insurgents died while attacking a military checkpoint by the village of Tal in the Hangu district of the troubled North-West Frontier province (NWFP). Twelve members of the Frontier Corps were injured in the incident, which followed a car suicide bombing of a checkpoint in Tal with six dead on Monday, the Geo news channel and other media said. In the Hangu district village of Zargari, nine people were reported killed and a dozen injured in shooting that erupted between local militants and a criminal gang during a tribal meeting to resolve disputes. Further south in the tribal district of North Waziristan by the border with Afghanistan, two civilians were injured in an exchange of fire between militants and troops at a checkpoint near the town of Miranshah.
