Over 50 killed on bloody day in Afghanistan and Pakistan

It was a bloody day in Af-Pak region with Taliban insurgents killing soldiers in Afghanistan, Pakistani army pounding militants as important talks were being called off across the border, and a blast killing a score of civilians in Pakistan.

Hundreds of heavily armed Taliban insurgents killed 21 soldiers and captured seven others in a pre-dawn attack at army checkpoints in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, officials said, making it the deadliest single incident for the Afghan army in at least a year.

The Talibans have escalated attacks in recent months as it tries to take advantage of the withdrawal of foreign troops at the end of 2014.
Afghanistan’s Taliban also said it has suspended mediation with the US to exchange a captive US soldier for five senior Taliban prisoners held in US custody in Guantanamo Bay.

Across the border, Pakistani military carried out fresh air strikes early morning in Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency in the country’s northwest tribal areas on the Afghan border, killing at least 20 terrorists and injuring many others, as peace talks with the Taliban remained suspended.

An improvised explosive devices making factory and huge quantities of explosives were destroyed in strikes, a military source said. The attacks came a day after the air strikes in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which nine terrorists were killed.