At least 16 security forces dead in Lower Dir Taliban attack

PESHAWAR: At least sixteen security officials were killed on Thursday in a Taliban ambush on a checkpost being set up on the country's northwestern frontier, a military official said Friday.

Earlier, an official said, "Fourteen people were killed including nine Frontier Corps soldiers and five police officials," adding that five or six other officials were wounded.

He said 200 armed militants had surrounded the post in the Kharkai area of Lower Dir, an area bordering Afghanistan's insurgent-hit Nuristan province.

Local police official Saleem Marwat told AFP that dozens of militants had seized control of the post on Thursday afternoon for the second time, after troops had managed to recapture their outpost overnight.

He put the death toll higher, saying 15 security officials had died.