Militants overrun military base in Pakistan; 25 feared dead

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Up to 25 troops were missing and feared dead after Islamic militants armed with rockets overran a remote military outpost close to the Afghan border, the military said Wednesday. It claimed 40 attackers were killed in the fight. "About 200 militants charged the fort from four sides" late Tuesday, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. "They broke through the fort's wall with rockets," he said. "Fifteen of the troops in the base escaped and they have reached Jandola while 25 others have scattered and there is no news how many of them were martyred or fled," he said. A total of 40 members of the paramilitary Frontier Corps were manning the post at the time of the attack, Abbas said, adding that government artillery was shelling the region.