Taliban kill 12 Pakistani soldiers in ambush

By Hafiz Wazir

WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Taliban militants ambushed a Pakistani military convoy near the Afghan border on Sunday killing 12 soldiers, the army said, as it prepared an assault on Pakistan's Taliban chief.

The military, near the end of an offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley after two months of fighting, is set to launch a new drive in South Waziristan, where Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud is based.

Pakistan's campaign against the Taliban has won the praise of close ally the United States, which needs Pakistan to go after the militants as it pursues its own strategy to defeat al Qaeda and stabilise Afghanistan.

The top U.S. commander for the region, General David Petraeus, arrived for talks with Pakistani leaders, the U.S. embassy said. Media said he met army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.

The Taliban have responded to the offensive with bombings in towns and cities and attacks on the military across the north.

Militants firing rocket-propelled grenades ambushed the military convoy in North Waziristan, another militant stronghold on the Afghan border, intelligence agency officials said.

Several vehicles were hit and the military said 12 soldiers were killed and 10 wounded. It was the heaviest military toll in an attack for months.

"An exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists continued for some time. Ten terrorists were killed," the military said in a statement.