Taliban Attack Kills 2 Policemen, Wounds 5 in Pakistan

Two policemen were killed and five others were wounded Wednesday when dozens of Taliban militants attacked a Pakistan police check post in the northwestern capital Peshawar, police said.

Police said they had initially repelled an attack by a group of armed Taliban on a security check post in Sarband, a suburban area of Peshawar around midnight (19:00 GMT Tuesday).

But before dawn, another group of 70 Taliban armed with guns and rocket launchers staged a second attack, killing two officers.

"Two of our policemen were martyred and five wounded," Mohammad Ijaz Khan, a senior police officer told Agence France Presse.

Khan said during the firefight the attackers also lobbed hand grenades and fired rockets at the check post.

"The first gunfight continued for some 15 minutes but again they attacked with more force and we forced them to flee in 40 minutes," Khan added.

Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants have been blamed for bombings targeting civilian and government security targets across Pakistan that have killed thousands of people in recent years.

In a similar incident Tuesday in Quetta, the capital of restive southwestern Baluchistan province, Pakistani troops killed five attackers including three women after a firefight.

One soldier was also killed in the attack.