More than 200 Pakistani Taliban attacked a security post in the northwestern region of Orakzai on Wednesday, triggering a clash in which at least 40 militants and two soldiers were killed, officials said. The violence came as U.S. National Security Adviser Jim Jones and CIA director Leon Panetta were in Pakistan, a White House official was quoted as saying by Reuters. Pakistani forces have increased their attacks in the Orakzai and Khyber regions of the northwest in recent weeks after largely clearing Taliban strongholds in other areas. The militants emerged out of forested mountains to attack the checkpoint in the Dobbari area soon after dawn, said a government official in the region, Nauman Khan. "They first fired rocket-propelled grenades at our check post and then closed in and attacked," said a military officer in the northwest. "We responded quickly and repulsed the attack after fierce fighting which lasted about three hours," said the officer. At least 40 militants as well as two soldiers were killed. Twenty-two soldiers were wounded, he said.
