ISLAMABAD, 5 November 2004 — Eight Pakistani soldiers were killed and several injured yesterday when an explosive device planted by militants hit their vehicle in the tribal region near the Afghan border.
The incident happened in the South Waziristan tribal region where thousands of troops have been hunting Al-Qaeda-linked militants this year.
The land mine was planted on a road near the town of Kanigarram in the semi-autonomous tribal region and exploded when one of the vehicles in a military convoy ran over it.
“There was an explosion and after that the vehicle went out of control and overturned. Six soldiers were martyred,” said military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. Two later died in hospital.
Kanigarram is about 35 kilometers north of South Waziristan’s main town of Wana, which itself is 400 kilometers southwest of the capital Islamabad.
Kanigarram is also a stronghold of the Mahsud tribe of ethnic Pashtuns where troops and militants have clashed often in recent months.
Security forces have stepped up their campaign in the region to hunt down a tribal leader, Abdullah Mahsud, after he masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in the region on Oct. 9.
One of the engineers was killed and another rescued when commandos launched a raid on the kidnappers five days later. All five hostage-takers also died.
Mahsud, a one-legged militant who spent time in US detention at Guantanamo Bay, was orchestrating events from another location when the commando raid took place and has since avoided the military dragnet.
Officials said hundreds of Al-Qaeda and Taleban fugitives poured into the tribal region from Afghanistan in late 2001 when a US-led military offensive toppled the Taleban regime, which had sheltered Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden.
