Militants attack Pakistani army camp, kill 23

Militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and suicide explosive vests launched a predawn raid on a Pakistani army camp in the country’s volatile northwest Saturday, killing 23 people and injuring at least eight.

The attack took place at a camp and checkpost in Lakki Marwat, a region just east of North Waziristan, militant groups continue to use as a primary base of operations, according to Pakistani security officials and local authorities. The militants converged on the camp at about 3:45 a.m. and engaged in a fierce firefight that lasted more than two hours.

Thirteen of the dead were security personnel — nine army troops and four officers with the Frontier Constabulary, a security force that polices the country’s northwest, said a Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on such matters. The attackers also broke into a nearby house and killed a family living there, including four men, three women and three children.

During the attack, 12 militants were killed, the security official said. At least two of them were wearing suicide explosive vests.

R.S