18 May 2011 VOA News Authorities in northwestern Pakistan say a group of at least 70 Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in the tribal region near the Afghan border, killing two police officers and wounding five others.
Officials said police warded off a first attack, but the militants returned Wednesday to the checkpoint near the city of Peshawar armed with guns and rockets for a second attack.
Authorities said at least 15 militants were killed in a clash that lasted at least three hours.
The northwestern tribal belt is considered a stronghold of al-Qaida and the Taliban.
In the southwestern city of Quetta, police say gunmen on a motorcycle fired on a vehicle, killing at least four Shi'ite Muslims and wounding four others in a suspected sectarian attack.
Last week, the Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for a pair of suicide bombings in Khyber-Pakhtunkwha province that killed at least 80 people. The group said the attack was revenge for the May 2 killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces, and vowed future attacks.