Taliban militants kill three policemen in Pakistan: police

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – Three policemen were killed in northwest Pakistan when Taliban militants stormed their checkpoint in a town near the troubled tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, police said Wednesday.

An unknown number of armed men staged the attack in the Dalman area of Hangu district late Tuesday, killing the three police officials, local police chief Sajjad Khan told AFP.

Two policemen were also wounded in the attack.

The militants also set the post on fire before fleeing the area, he said, adding that the gunmen also suffered casualties but details were not immediately available.

The post was located on a mountainous track used by militants based in the nearby lawless tribal region of North Waziristan.

Northwest Pakistan has been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels flooded into the area after Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime was toppled in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

Local officials meanwhile imposed a curfew in Hangu district in a bid to avert sectarian violence between Pakistan's majority Sunnis and minority Shiites, officials said.

Muslims are currently observing the mourning period of Muharram, during which sectarian attacks have occurred in the past.

Shiites were to stage Ashura processions in cities and towns across Pakistan on Wednesday to commemorate the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussain in the year 680.