ISLAMABAD: A roadside bomb killed at least two soldiers and injured three others Wednesday in Pakistan's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, the military said.
The blast occurred in North Waziristan, one of the country's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts, where the army has been battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants for years.
Two soldiers were killed and "three others injured when a security forces vehicle struck an improvised explosive device planted along the roadside by terrorists," the military said in a statement.
"The injured have been evacuated to Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar," the statement said.
North Waziristan is part of Pakistan's tribal belt – a block of seven districts along the country's northwest border with Afghanistan which are home to an estimated five million people, mainly ethnic Pashtuns.
The US has repeatedly accused Pakistan of allowing the tribal areas to host safe havens harboring militants fighting in Afghanistan – an allegation Islamabad has consistently denied.
Pakistan's parliament last week passed a constitutional amendment paving the way for the troubled region to enter the mainstream political fold, bringing an ending to a colonial-era arrangement that fuelled militancy. The legislation still needs to be signed into law by the president.
