The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Wana

Islamist insurgents have withdrawn from a Pakistani military fort they captured near the Afghan border, but 15 soldiers are still missing after the rebel attack, the army said Thursday.

Several hundred militants armed with rocket launchers and Kalashnikov rifles stormed the remote fort at Sararogha town in the South Waziristan tribal district early Wednesday in a major setback for Pakistani forces.

The battle for the fort left seven troops and up to 50 rebels dead, with 20 more soldiers initially reported as missing.

"Miscreants have withdrawn from Sararogha Fort. Five more Frontier Corps troops have reached a nearby village," said a brief military statement, adding that further details would be issued later. There was no independent confirmation that the militants had abandoned the British colonial-era fort in the rugged tribal zone, a hideout for Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants. Troops also traded fire with militants at another fort in Ladah in South Waziristan after the rebels fired rockets and small-arms, the army said.

Attacks on security forces are rising in the volatile tribal region, and Pakistan is reeling from a series of suicide attacks that killed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and hundreds more, chipping away at President Pervez Musharraf's prestige before Feb. 18 parliamentary elections.

"The militants are now challenging the army openly. They have become very bold and are consolidating their positions," Talat Masood, a retired general who is now a political analyst, said after Tuesday night's attack on Sararogha Fort.

Militants also fired small arms and rockets at a military base in Ladha, another town in South Waziristan, late Wednesday, drawing retaliatory fire from troops, the military said. No casualties were reported.