Peshawar/QUETTA - A suspected Taliban suicide bomber rammed a truck into a Pakistan military checkpoint in North Waziristan Agency bordering Afghanistan on Monday, killing three soldiers and wounding 12 others including two women, military officials said.
One military source said seven soldiers were wounded.
Officials said security personnel were establishing a small checkpoint on Datta Khel Road near Boya Checkpost when a bomber rammed his vehicle into the checkpoint. Soon after the blast, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to clear the area.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), while confirming the incident said at least three soldiers embraced Shahadat in the blast and 12 others including two women also sustained injuries in the explosion. The injured persons were shifted to a nearby hospital.
The assault, which took place in North Waziristan tribal region, came just hours after Taliban militants disguised as security forces stormed Karachi airport.
“The death toll could rise,” a military official said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but the officials said the Taliban were responsible.
Separately, at least two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were killed and three others sustained injuries when a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near the volatile Awaran district of Balochistan on Monday afternoon.
FC officials confirmed the death toll and said one of the injured was in critical condition.
“The FC vehicle was on a routine patrol from Awaran on the national highway when it was hit by an IED planted by miscreants,” officials said.
More troops rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area after the explosion. The bodies and injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Awaran is among the worst militancy-hit areas where last year a massive earthquake flattened 95 percent of the area. Banned Baloch separatist organisation Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) usually carries out attacks on security forces in Awaran and nearby areas.
However, there have been no claims of responsibility for this latest attack. Security forces have started a search operation in the area.
Last week, a suspected suicide bomber attacked a security forces vehicle in Rawalpindi, home to Pakistan’s Army headquarters, killing five people including two officers.
Sunday night’s attack on an airport in Karachi and an increasing number of assaults on military outposts in the last few weeks have all but destroyed prospects for peace talks between the Taliban and the government.
In May, forces launched their first major offensive in years against Taliban militants near the Afghan border after several rounds of government-led talks aimed at ending an insurgency failed.
Disagreements over how to handle the insurgency have marred relations between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the army, which has been pushing for a major military offensive.