Pak militants capture paramilitary fort

Hundreds of Islamist militants captured a Pakistani paramilitary fort near the Afghan border yesterday, sparking fierce fighting that left seven troops and up to 50 rebels dead, the army said.
Security officials said another 20 troops were missing after insurgents armed with rocket launchers blasted their way into the outpost at Sararogha town in the rugged South Waziristan tribal district.
The area is said to be a stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal warlord with alleged links to al-Qaeda who is accused by the government of masterminding the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
"Around midnight 400 miscreants attacked the Frontier Corps at Sararogha. The fort was captured by militants, we are taking stock of the situation," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.
"There are reports of 40 to 50 dead miscreants, while seven personnel embraced martyrdom."
The attack highlighted growing insecurity in Pakistan ahead of crucial elections on February 18, which were postponed because of widespread unrest sparked by Benazir's killing.
Military sources said the Islamist fighters besieged the remote fort in darkness before blowing up part of the walls, storming inside and taking control of the building.
Abbas said that of 42 troops manning the fort, 15 had escaped and reported back to a separate base while the whereabouts of the rest were not known.
"There are reports that they are returning to scattered posts," he said.
A senior security official however said that the 20 troops were still missing.
The capture of the fort came two days after the army said seven troops and 23 militants were killed in a clash in Mohmand, another of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
Last week the military said it repulsed a further attack in South Waziristan involving around 300 militants, killing around 50 of them.
Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militancy has intensified in the tribal areas since Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ordered troops to crush an uprising at a radical mosque in Islamabad in July.
Insurgent leader Mehsud is accused by the government of ordering most of those attacks from his hideout in South Waziristan, including Benazir's killing at an election rally on December 27.
He has denied any role in Benazir Bhutto's assassination.
Militants also took over swathes of the Swat valley, also in northwest Pakistan, and proclaimed Islamic law before being chased into the mountains by troops.
The violence in Pakistan has raised fears for the stability of the nuclear-armed US ally in the "war on terror" ahead of the general elections.
The polls are billed as a key step towards full democracy nine years after Musharraf seized power in a military coup.