“They were in hundreds and were armed with light and heavy weapons,” Mohammad Ali, deputy commissioner of Chitral district, told AFP He said four Pakistan troops were killed, along with nine militants, in hours-long battles that began before dawn PESHAWAR: Pakistan troops repelled a deadly cross-border raid from Afghanistan by “hundreds” of Pakistan Taliban militants on Wednesday, a senior official said, with extra forces rushed to the rugged frontier region. “They were in hundreds and were armed with light and heavy weapons. We were ready to face the attack and exchange of fire continued for some four hours,” Mohammad Ali, deputy commissioner of Chitral district, told AFP. Pakistan’s home-grown Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) movement has been emboldened by the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021, and Islamabad regularly accuses its neighbor of harboring militants — a charge they deny. Ali said four Pakistan troops were killed, along with nine militants, in hours-long battles that began before dawn. “We were monitoring their movements in areas close to the border for two or three days... Informers have also sent us information about the militant group movement, so we were ready to face them,” Ali said. In a statement, the TTP claimed to have seized two military posts in the Bomburit area of Chitral.