At least 13 soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, said the officials, reported AFP. The attack is suspected to have taken place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border.
“A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy. The blast killed 13 soldiers, injured 10 army personnel and 19 civilians,”a local government official told reporters in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media. The explosion also damaged nearby homes, the report added.
A police officer posted in the district said the explosion caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children.
The condition of four wounded soldiers remains critical, an administrative official said.
The suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban in 2021. Islamabad accuses its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan — a claim the Taliban denies.
This year alone, around 290 people — mostly security officials — have been killed in such attacks by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
