Attacks Leave At Least 28 Dead In Pakistan

A Pakistani soldier stands near a damaged Taliban militant training center in South Waziristan in December.

(RFE/RL) -- A wave of violence in Pakistan today left at least 28 people dead as Pakistani security forces fought to quell the growing Taliban insurgency in the country.

Militants ambushed government forces near the Afghan border in a skirmish that left two officers and 22 militants dead.

Officials said the troops were ambushed by insurgents at checkpoints in the tribal regions of Orakzai and Kurram, north of the country's North Waziristan district.

Police also said at least four people were killed by a suicide bomber today. The attack took place near a police station in Gomal, a small town near South Waziristan, where Pakistani troops have been clashing with Islamist militants.

District police chief Ejaz Abid said the car bomb killed one police officer, three civilians -- two of them children -- and left another 11 people wounded. He said he believed the strike was a "reaction" to Pakistan's offensive in South Waziristan.

Compiled from agency reports