ISLAMABAD: At least 12 soldiers were killed and a dozen injured when a Pakistan Army convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber on Bannu Road in North Waziristan yesterday morning.
Army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan said that the convoy of the security forces was targeted near the Essa checkpost on Miranshah-Bannu Road, about five kilometers from here.
Security officials said that caravan was on its way to Miranshah from Bannu, when the suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the convoy of 30 to 40 vehicles in the tribal district of North Waziristan, destroying at least four vehicles and damaging several others. Officials said that 12 security personnel and two civilians were killed.
“Twelve soldiers were martyred and 12 injured in the attack,” a local security said. The security forces cordoned off the area after the blast and military helicopters were evacuating the injured to an army hospital in Bannu, added the official.
A military spokesman, Col. Baseer, confirmed the suicide bombing and said there were reports of casualties but the exact numbers had yet to be ascertained. He said the convoy was traveling from a military base in Bannu, a district in the North-West Frontier Province, to a paramilitary base near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, when it was attacked.
North Waziristan is a sanctuary for Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants and has been the scene of fierce battles and suicide attacks over the past several years. Pakistan’s new government has committed itself to the US-led campaign against Islamist militancy even though the campaign is deeply unpopular.
Security forces launched offensives against militants in two parts of the northwest in August and the government says hundreds have been killed, but there has been no offensive in North Waziristan. Pakistani security forces on Friday killed at least nine Taleban militants in a clash in the country’s lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border, an army spokesman said.
— With input from agencies
