18 militants, 7 security troops killed ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Pakistani security forces killed 18 militants but lost seven of their own personnel in gunbattles Friday in the northwest Kurram tribal region, officials said. The security forces returned fire after they were attacked at a checkpoint in the Shaheedano Dhand area of the region, the Express Tribune reported. The Tribune report quoted a senior official as saying seven other security personnel were missing and three were injured. "The shootout took place in lower Kurram, right on the border with North Waziristan," the official said. The scene of the fighting is in rugged mountainous terrain where security officials have been trying to block the route used by militants to move from one tribal region to another, the report said. Eight security personnel and 35 militants died in similar clashes in Kurram earlier this week, it said.