Dozens of militants attacked a Pakistani checkpoint, sparking clashes that killed six security personnel and four militants in the tribal belt overnight

Dozens of militants attacked a Pakistani checkpoint, sparking clashes that killed six security personnel and four militants in the tribal belt overnight, officials said Tuesday.
  
The fighting took place in the northwestern Khyber district, where troops are frequently locked in clashes with homegrown militia Lashkar-e-Islam.
  
Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt to plot attacks on Pakistani, Afghan and Western targets.
  
"Around 100 militants attacked a Frontier Corps checkpost in the Shalobar area of Bara in Khyber tribal region on Monday night, which triggered a firefight," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
  
Officials said four paramilitary soldiers and two tribal policemen were killed, and 16 other personnel were wounded.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Islam said it carried out the attack but denied that any of its fighters were killed.