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Three soldiers were killed and five others injured when unidentified militants ambushed a security patrol in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early Tuesday, official sources said.
The attack took place around 4:00 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Monday) when a joint search party of the paramilitary troops Frontier Corps and special operations commandos came under fire in Khyber tribal district, the sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Security forces returned fire and repulsed the assault after an exchange of heavy gunfire, reports Xinhua.
The bodies of the slain soldiers and injured personnel were airlifted to a military hospital in the provincial capital city of Peshawar, said the sources.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but the sources said that militant groups linked to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are active in the area.
Security forces have launched a search operation to track down the attackers.