ISLAMABAD — Rockets fired by militants from across the Afghan border hit a Pakistani military post Sunday in the Khyber tribal region, killing four soldiers and wounding four others, the Pakistani army said.
The tribal regions are off-limits for journalists making it difficult to independently confirm or obtain detailed accounts of the event.
The Pakistani army has been engaged for months in a massive operation to drive out militants from Khyber and other tribal regions. But militants hiding in the mountains or across the border in Afghanistan's Kunar province often emerge to plant bombs or attack checkpoints.
Also Sunday, a tribal elder was killed and four army soldiers injured in two separate roadside bomb attacks in the Bajur tribal region, said a local administrator Fayyaz Sherpao.
In southwest Pakistan, police found the bullet-riddled bodies of three workers in the Turbat district of Baluchistan province, a hotbed of insurgency, said local police officer Noor Mohammad.
Mohammad said unknown gunmen abducted four workers from a construction site three days ago.
A low-level insurgency is ongoing in Baluchistan by separatist and nationalist groups who demand complete autonomy from Islamabad and an extra share from the revenues generated by the province's natural gas and mineral resources.
Also in Baluchistan Sunday, police recovered a Tanzanian and a Nigerian national from a house in the provincial capital Quetta and arrested one of their captors, said area police official Abdul Majeed.
Police said the men had been abducted for ransom, but did not give any further details.
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Associated Press writers Anwarullah Khan in Khar, Pakistan and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan contributed to this report.