Frontier Corps. - File Photo

PESHAWAR: At least three security personnel and seven assailants were killed in an attack on a checkpost in Sarband, near Peshawar, late on Thursday night.

Thirteen police and Frontier Constabulary personnel were injured.

According to police, the militants attacked the post after entering the area from Bara in Khyber Agency. Police could not retrieve the bodies till the morning.

Personnel deployed at the post immediately informed their officials of the attack but reinforcements could not reach the area in time and the men had to fight with the limited weapons available.

According to FC sources, about 150 militants armed with heavy weapons and rocket launchers attacked the Toot post of police and Frontier Constabulary.

FC jawan Mohammad Yaqoob and policemen Naveed Nasir and Ahmed Saeed were killed. Five FC men were injured.

Funeral prayers for the FC man were offered at the Constabulary Headquarters.

Peshawar police chief Syed Imtiaz Altaf said seven militants had been killed and several others injured. He said police had found the bodies of two militants.

He said two known militants were among those killed. “Funerals of five militants of Lashkar-i-Islam have been held in Bara area,” he said.

Mr Altaf said eight policemen had been injured in the clash.

“To avoid ambush, security personnel have to remain cautious while moving from one place to another, especially at night, but even then I myself reached the spot and re-established the police post,” he said.

He tried to dispel the perception that help for the attacked personnel was delayed and that they had insufficient arms and ammunition.

The police officer said the militants were armed with all kinds of light and heavy weapons, including rocket launchers and grenades. He said the attack was a reaction to the arrest of militants and seizure of weapons in areas adjoining Peshawar, but the situation was under control now.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti attended the funeral prayers for the slain policemen. He said some hideouts of terrorists had been destroyed in a joint operation by police and FC personnel.

He said the incident showed that police and other security forces were fully active for counteracting terrorists.

“Unfortunately our people were kidnapped and deprived of their weapons in earlier attacks.”

Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said an effective anti-terror operation had been launched by the government with people’s cooperation.

He said such attacks could not affect the resolve of the government, political workers and security personnel.