A landmine attack and ambush killed 12 security forces' personnel in Mohmand Agency on Wednesday. "Eight soldiers were martyred and two were wounded when their vehicle hit a landmine buried on the roadside," Frontier Corps spokesman Major Fazalur Rehman said.

"The soldiers were on a routine patrol. The landmine was buried by the militants. The explosion damaged the pick-up," Rehman said. He said the incident was separate to a Taliban ambush that left two paramilitary personnel dead and eight others missing after terrorists attacked another convoy nearby at Ghanam Shah the same day.

Local official Rasool Khan said two security personnel, initially reported as missing, later made contact. "A search operation is continuing for the remaining eight who are missing," Khan told. Two bodies were recovered after the ambush and 10 terrorists killed after attack helicopters shelled suspected terrorist hideouts in Bai Zai area of the agency.

Security forces launched a huge operation against terrorists in Mohmand and Bajaur in August 2008. In February, they said Bajaur had been cleared after months of fierce fighting, but unrest has rumbled on.