Soldiers killed in Pakistan attack

Taliban fighters killed eight Pakistani soldiers at a checkpoint in an Afghan border region that the army had said was cleared of insurgents, while two bomb attacks today in the north-west killed six civilians, officials said.

The attacks showed the strength of militant groups along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan despite Pakistani army offensives against them and US drone-fired missile strikes. After four years of offensives, there are few signs the authorities have the upper hand.