3 Pak policemen shot dead
Gunmen in Pakistan destroyed four tankers transporting fuel to Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan and killed three police officials in an exchange of fire on Saturday, police said.
The incident took place in Talagang town, 158 kilometres (98 miles) south of Islamabad.
"Unknown gunmen opened fire on the four tankers, which were parked at a gas station in Talagang town, causing a massive fire," regional police officer Aslam Tareen told AFP. "A police patrol in the area engaged the gunmen, which triggered an exchange of fire, killing three policemen."
He said the gunmen later fled and rescue officials were trying to extinguish the fire.
Meanwhile, troops killed at least eight militants Sunday during a pre-dawn gunfight in a restive Pakistani tribal area, officials said.
The gunfight took place during a search operation in Orakzai tribal district, local administration official Sajjad Ahmed told AFP.
Ahmed said security forces also captured two underground hideouts used by militants.
A senior military official put the militant death toll at eight.
"Security forces killed at least eight militants during a search operation," the official said.
"Up to 40 militants attacked our security forces," he said and added that the bodies of six militants had been captured.
In a separate development, US drone fired three missiles into a militant compound in Pakistan's tribal area near the Afghan border on Saturday, killing seven militants, security officials said.
The strike took place at 9:00 pm (1600 GMT) in Marsikhel area, 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, which is known as a hub for Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants.
The nationalities of the seven dead were not immediately clear, a senior Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Militants have carried out a series of strikes against supplies for US and Nato-led foreign forces fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
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